Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States.

Just accept it, my Republican friends.

Other than Jeb Bush, the stable of GOP candidates and possible candidates is fringier than a suede jacket from the 1970s.

Ted Cruz? A right-winger who is not even liked by those in his own party (see: government shutdown, circa 2013). Rand Paul? Libertarians always sound good until their policies are applied to important places like the Real World. Marco Rubio? Ninety-nine percent of America just imitated an owl and said, “Who?” Chris Christie? Yesterday’s news.

Scott Walker? Zzzzzzzzzz. Rick Santorum? Already tried, lost. Rick Perry? Ditto. Mike Huckabee? Another loser. Ben Carson? More owls.

Republican pundits are desperate enough that one floated the idea of Dick Cheney – DICK CHENEY! – as a possible candidate. He was joking. We think.

Bush has the broadest appeal and would give Clinton the best run for her (ungodly sums of campaign) money, but there’s no guarantee Republicans will give him the nod. They’ve tried mainstream, relatively moderate candidates twice against Barack Obama and were thumped twice. John McCain had no chance in 2008 and Mitt Romney didn’t come close to beating an allegedly unpopular, failing president who passed an allegedly unpopular, failing health-care law.

Maybe Republicans will roll the dice on a Cruz or Rubio in hopes they’d have broader appeal than a rich white guy from a political dynasty family.

It matters not. Clinton will win because she’ll have the most money, experience and popularity while appealing to the broadest spectrum of Americans. She’ll be the best candidate. There’ll also be those who vote for her knowing it will be a ground-shaking historic event to elect the first female president.

The most interesting – if that’s the proper word – part of the campaign is going to be watching Republicans and their media flaks on Fox News, talk-radio and the blogosphere try to eviscerate Clinton for the next 18 months. This is the same media machine that has viciously shredded Obama for the past seven years, painting him as a Kenyan Muslim socialist dictator who hates America and wants to see it fail.

The campaign has succeeded to a certain extent, because there is a frighteningly large percentage of Americans who believe those things about the president. There is an even larger percentage of Americans who are convinced the country is going down the toilet, that we’re doomed and it’s only a matter of time before we collapse under the weight of Obama’s failed policies. This despite the fact Obama’s policies helped save the country from economic collapse and, in fact, the nation is chugging along quite nicely.

The question is: How nasty are Republicans going to get?

My guess would be incredibly nasty. My guess would be the level of vitriol directed at Clinton for the next year and a half will make the venom spit at Obama seem tame by comparison.

Yes, we’ll hear about Benghazi ad nauseam. It won’t resonate with voters because A) there’s nothing there and B) it hasn’t stuck even though Republicans and Fox News have tried throwing it against the wall for two years now. Yes, we’ll hear about deleted e-mails. It won’t resonate with voters because A) it’ll be only talk and no hard evidence and B) people just don’t care.

That’ll leave Republicans to get personal and dirty with Clinton, and they will. Her looks. Her age. Her daughter. Her husband. Her finances. Her everything. It’ll all be thrown out there by the GOP and its surrogates.

Funny thing is, Clinton has enough of a track record as a U.S. Senator, presidential candidate and Secretary of State that Republicans can hit her on policy and voting alone to appeal to their voters. They’ve already tied her to Obama, which is fair and smart. Good politics. Nothing scares the Republican base like the Kenyan Muslim socialist dictator.

But when things get desperate, and they will, the Republicans won’t be able to help themselves. A party that has done everything it can to discredit and undermine a president for eight years – including questioning whether or not he is a citizen of the United States, after he’d been legally and duly elected twice by a majority of citizens – will show no scruples. Why start now?

The Clintons have been Teflon politicians since Bill was in the White House. Hillary will need every ounce of that non-stick surface, and a very thick skin, over the next 18 months.

(Mike McFeely is a talk-show host on 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. He can be heard 2-5 p.m. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcFeelyKFGO.)