Why do people think Gabbard is either GOP-lite or so commie weirdo? She seems a bit left/dovish for my tastes (based on what I see on fb) but she could probably make a great President or at least Veep. The only problem is that she is from Hawaii. She would be the biggest thing since Super Bad from Hawaii. But if Palin, from Alaska, could start a movement of violent loons and weirdos that wins Congress, why can't she?
She's a center-left moderate with a well-packaged anti-establishment left-progressive image that she's aggressively cultivated because she sensed a good opportunity to make a name for herself when Sanders came along. She's definitely to the right of even some moderate establishment Democrats like Andrew Cuomo and Cory Booker in reality. Loretta Sanchez is probably a good point of comparison in terms of actual ideology. Maybe that makes Gabbard GOP-lite (a lot of liberal Dems seem to think Sanchez is GOP-lite), but it's hard to imagine a Republican who would be capable of occupying that point on the political spectrum without being torn apart in a primary.
I actually think Gabbard stands a good chance of making a real splash from Hawaii, if only because she is excellent at self-promotion in a way that few other Democratic politicians are (really only Cuomo comes to mind of those with similar skills).
