The paradox of a possible 2016 presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush is that each would be seeking to lead a party that has largely abandoned the policies associated with their family name. …
The combination of a shifting electoral coalition, stormier economic climate, and growing congressional polarization has led each side away from the centrism that Bill Clinton consistently, and George W. Bush intermittently, pursued. Each party today mostly follows the portion of each man’s agenda that reaffirmed its traditional priorities. Democrats from President Obama on down still echo Clinton’s emphasis on investing in human capital and “making work pay.” Republicans reprise Bush’s push for tax cuts, less regulation, and entitlement reform.
But each party has deemphasized, or even interred, many of the new approaches the two presidents advanced to court new constituencies. CONT.
Ron Brownstein, National Journal