GOP Can't Coast

Bill Kristol turns to a recent CNN/ORC poll, which finds that a majority of voters think of Hillary Clinton as representing the future.  No Republican candidate mentioned in this poll equals that number.  This is just one poll and numbers can change, but American presidential elections are often about the future, so this finding should concern Republicans.  As Kristol writes:

It’s of course very early in the 2016 cycle. But it’s never too early for some healthy alarm. Are we the only ones who are struck that many of the leading Republican candidates, whether moderate or conservative, seem to be planning stale and tired campaigns? Hillary will herself, it’s safe to predict, run a stale campaign with tired themes. But the polls suggest she would prevail in a conventional matchup of boring campaigns.
We’re all free to ignore the fire bell in the night, and hope for the best. But it would be a shame to have to explain in November 2016 how the Republican party decided to sleepwalk to defeat.

If conservatives hope to win in 2016, imagination and energy will be crucial.