Hillary Rodham Clinton is running for president. Since I think I was the last person in America who thought she might not run, I just wanted to acknowledge that.
So now it’s Hillary versus Barack Obama versus John Edwards, with Bill Richardson, Tom Vilsack, Chris Dodd (!) and who knows who else in the mix. Not that this is a prediction, but this would be a fine moment for John Kerry to pull out, don’t you think?
Although Jon Keller, hardly a Kerry fan, won’t rule him out. Nor should I, given how far off I was here.
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You weren’t the only one Dan. I honestly didn’t think she was stupid enough to run. If she is the nominee the Democrats are sure to lose.
Me three. I actually had some money on it.Silly me.I don’t agree with tony above – I am far from sure she would lose a general election. But now we have to brave the coming sh*t-storm, not from the right-wing nutcases, but from the so-called liberal media, led by the New York Times.
Wake me when she implodes…/sarcasm–raj
I think if it were 2012, she would have a chance at winning. But most of her b.s. is still too fresh in the people’s minds for her to win: The Career’s Bill, her gun control obsession, her secret health care hearings, the pharma stuff, the commodities scandal, defending her husband’s reckless behavior and not having him neutered back when he allegedly raped Juanita Brodderick, etc. Sure, Kerry was an awful nominee and an awful candidate, in general, and almost won. A speculator could easily say that the Dems only have to hold what Kerry got and win one more big state. But where? Where does Hilary win where Kerry and Gore – less divisive figures – couldn’t? The opposition lied about Kerry’s military record and was able to con people into not voting for him. Granted, his less than forceful defense of himself didn’t help matters. Neither did the windsurfing or yelling at Secret Service officers while skiing in Vail. But if Hilary is the nominee, they won’t have to lie about much. It’s already out there, like low hanging fruit, ripe for the pickins’ … She is just too divisive an individual to win a general election.
Tony: That’s exactly right — what state can she win that Kerry couldn’t? I can’t think of one. It’s not a matter of loving Hillary or hating her. It’s just cold politics.
I got a call Saturday morning from the John Kerry exploratory committee (or at least, someone claiming to be phoning on behalf of such).
Tony and Dan, I disagree. She is formidable precisely because all that stuff is out there and she’s still standing. What more could the GOP machine dig up? America has already formed its collective opinion. If you like her now, you’re not going to hate her in 22 months. But if you hate her now, there’s always the chance she’ll win you over. Witness upstate NY.As for the states she could win that Kerry couldn’t, try Ohio. Assuming she could hold serve elsewhere, that’s all she would need.
Hillary the candidate to beat – if anyone can. With her fundraiser-in-chief husband Hillary maybe able to raise in excess of 200 million dollars in the next year and a half.The war will be the central issue defining next years presidential election, and every other issue will be a distant second except for possibly economics issues if the US goes in recession.Obama will not be a factor next year. He has too many negatives that the Clintons can rubbed his face in. He has too Muslim family connections; too inexperienced; too experienced with cocaine; too experienced smoking cigarettes; and he has been too revealing about himself. The Clintons have 20/20 vision of the campaign trial and Barack Obama is going to get the political lesson of his life the next several months.The Clintons also have a way of reinventing themselves and 2007 and 2008 will the year of the extreme makeover. Hillary is much more pleasant and assuming now than she was in 1992 and 1993. She is almost a different person from 15 years ago.However, I have to admit that I cannot wait for the day when neither a Bush or Clinton is not on the ballot. American politics version of tag team wrestling -the Bushes and Clintons – is getting old. It is time for something new!Danny L. McDanielLafayette, Indiana
Mike: Kerry probably won Ohio, too!
Don’t forget Dennis Kucinich in the list of Dem candidates. I think he’ll win almost as many states as Dodd.
Anon 9:40: Yes. I predict that Kucinich and Dodd will end up in a tie for number of states won. And Biden might make three.
It will be great fun seeing whose speeches Biden cribs from this time around.
How much longer before biden becomes the harold stassen for our times?
Jon Keller, ‘hardly a Kerry fan’ ??Pu-leeeeeeeeeze.I laugh out loud every time I read or hear him tut-tut about the lack of civility among the ‘Clinton haters’ and the ‘Bush haters.’ His obsession with Kerry (of whom I am no big supporter), and his eagerness to pass off his anti-Kerry bias as straight reporting, is painfully obvious. As for Hillary, there are several other Dems I’d prefer – Clark, Edwards, Obama, Richardson, Brian Schweitzer – but compared to the freak show the GOP seems to be putting together, she’s positively presidential.
What state could Hillary win that Kerry couldn’t?Arkansas jumps to mind.Ohio? Missouri? Florida?If you think Hillary would be a smarter candidate than Kerry (and I think this is almost self-evident), why would you think she couldn’t win states that didn’t go for Kerry? I don’t see any reason to place a bound on her potential performance, and if you want to place a bound, isn’t it your task to demonstrate it?
The guy not to rule out if Gore.