One of the best insights about politics that I ever received came to me in a dream. A character in the dream, identity unknown, told me that the American people don’t really expect their leaders to solve their problems, but they have to know that their hearts are in the right place. If you think fairly hard about it, that explains a lot of what happens in politics, which would include Hillary Clinton’s wish list of an agenda.
The bottom line is that the Republicans are going to maintain control of the House after the 2016 election, and quite possibly the Senate, as well. As a result, few, if any, of the Democratic agenda items are going to become law. Hillary is undoubtedly well aware of this. With that in mind, what can her supporters actually expect her to do, in the real world, if she is elected?
First, she would stop a Republican counterrevolution in domestic policy, which would include: cuts and counterproductive structural changes to entitlement programs; massive cuts to anti-poverty programs; large tax cuts on capital; the dismantling of regulations on financial institutions and pollution sources; new legislation restricting abortion; and, in all likelihood, a national right-to-work law.
Second, she can stop us from going to war in the Middle East for little or no good reason. Her support of the Iran deal provides some needed reassurance on that point.
Third, she can try to make deals with Republicans based on mutual self-interest. Obama has had little success with this, but it could be tried again with a slightly different case of characters. These could include the following: income tax cuts in exchange for a carbon tax; entitlement cuts in exchange for infrastructure spending; trading tax cuts for working people for tax cuts for the wealthy (deficit be damned); pro-business changes to immigration law; or getting rid of the Obamacare employer mandate in exchange for additional discretionary spending.
Fourth, she can use her regulatory authority to the maximum extent of the law.
That’s about it. In terms of making actual social progress, as opposed to warding off disaster, it may not be very inspiring, but when you consider the alternative, it doesn’t look bad at all.