Is Clinton the answer?

The race for the White House is shaping up to be a heated affair on both sides of the aisle. The GOP field is stacked with a plethora of candidates led by former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) in the national polls. Undoubtedly, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recent entry will only raise the stakes for the already crowded Republican nominating contest. Not to be outdone, the Democrats are projecting a sanguine disposition, even though much of the field is struggling to find traction. Yet, despite these troubles many candidates might have gaining a foothold with voters, Hillary Clinton is on the move.

{mosads}Since entering the race more than two months ago, the former secretary of State has been attempting to consolidate her base. She’s aggressively courting the party faithful, as well as key constituencies, with an eye toward the general election. Her economic speech at the New School in New York City — focusing on wage growth — is just the latest attempt at adopting the platform of her closest challenger, former colleague Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Clinton has also targeted Wall Street in an effort to bring Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — along with her legion of supporters — into the fold, thus shoring up her far-left flank. Additionally, recognizing the record-high turnout of black voters during President Obama’s two historic campaigns, Clinton is also making concerted efforts to engage the African-American community. As evidence, look no further than a recent campaign stop in South Carolina targeting black women. The Clinton campaign has also hired Dreamer Lorella Praeli to lead their Latino outreach effort.

But it doesn’t stop there for Clinton. While much of the debate on the right has centered on foreign policy and more recently, immigration (thank Trump for that), Clinton has moved on to domestic issues tearing at the very fabric of the nation. The Confederate flag and police brutality have received swift and forceful rebukes by the Democratic front-runner. In her march to the nomination, Clinton has become a political sponge, taking on and absorbing the issues resonating with key (and rapidly growing) demographic groups crucial to Election Day victory. She astutely recognizes her pathway to triumph is maintaining Obama’s base, which includes African-Americans, Latinos, millennials and young women. However, where Obama struggled among older voters, the less-educated and with rural communities, the exact opposite is true for Clinton. During 2008 Democratic primary, she outperformed her then-rival Obama among these same groups. This suggests that she could expand on Obama’s winning coalition.

However, unlike Clinton, there is no GOP candidate (at the moment) unifying the party or key demographic groups. The party is splintered into several different entities, with each new entrant hoping his or her base is large enough to secure the nomination. Moreover, while Bush might be flexing his political muscle, both in the national polls and in the money race (his record $114 million haul places him firmly atop the GOP field), polling from the early nominating states tell a very different story. In fact, much like Mitt Romney in 2012, Bush may have to move farther to the right in order to secure the nomination. This will only hinder his ability to create a big tent for the GOP by alienating key voters and could prove fatal in the general election.

Make no mistake about it, the Clinton juggernaut is real. Yet there are strong headwinds on the horizon that could stall her candidacy. A recent CNN poll shows the public considering her to be less trustworthy than any candidate currently in the race. Questions surrounding Benghazi, missing State Department emails and accounting irregularities at the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation represent only (a few of) the potential issues that could derail her White House ambitions. Despite it all, she is still the only person in the race who can take on the issues of every key demographic group and bring instant credibility to their respective platform.

As the nation’s first African-American president, Barack Obama was deeply sensitive and cautious about tackling social issues, race being central among them. Perhaps this hindered his ability to score legislative victories surrounding certain issues plaguing the nation deep into his second term. In 2016, Clinton is able to be that voice who can confront intractable issues such as immigration reform, rising inequality, racism and sexism. The years 2008 and 2012 saw Obama as the answer to America’s longstanding race problem. In 2016, many will no doubt see Clinton as the answer to America’s longstanding gender woes. Could it be that Hillary Clinton is the answer to America’s problems?

Ham is a national political analyst and author of the bestseller The GOP Civil War: Inside the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party. Follow him on Twitter @EKH2016.