Whoever wins, for the Democrats, 2016 is an open seat. Thus the race for the nomination begins the day after the election.
1.Hillary looks old, tired. Visual appearance is important in this media-driven environment. Americans are willing to vote for older males...from Ronald Reagan to Frank Lautenberg, from Strom Thurmond to "Sheets Byrd," but almost never for a woman. Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi aren't fair comparison; they both have all-but guaranteed seats. In a competitive race, I can't think of one name, ( but if there are, I'm sure Freepers will remind me) Unless, of course, she plans to re-image herself as a latter-day Golda Meir
2. Does she want to spend the next FOUR years running around the country, raising money, and attending a slew of of dinners and events. It's hard, it takes a toll, and she may not want to pay the price.
3. But what really gives me pause is that we have no idea how the mess in Benghazi will play out. Obviously, it represents at BEST a major screw-up in the State Dept, and Hillary's hands likely are not clean in this, and she may not be able to distance herself from it. This story will have legs, especially with a new Republican Administration turning over all the rocks.
The combination of all three factors, plus of course, the ( dare I say it?) "blow-back" from the eagerly awaited Monica Lewinsky "blow-by-blow" ( sorry, couldn't resist it) tell-all) may be enough for Hillary to finally say "no mas."
So let's assume that she decides not to run. And this is where is gets very, very interesting, and will be the most fascinating, and important political story of the next two years.
If Mitt loses, the GOP has a veritable baker's dozen of fresh, energetic, photogenic, conservative possibilities for 2016. You can no doubt name them yourself.
However, if Hillary doesn't run, who do the Dems have?
Joe Biden, Martin O'Malley, Amy Klobuchar, Xavier Bacera, Deval Patrick, Michael Bennet, Mark Warner, Andrew Cuomo....Michelle Obama (you just know somebody's gonna toss that one around) Good luck with any of those...and believe me, it was a stretch to come up with those names. Ask yourself...WHO?????
The Democrat bench is incredibly thin, if non-existent.
And there's one key reason why it is very hard to imagine ANY of the above winning the WH.
Democrat electoral strength is concentrated in a small number of very blue states. 20 states at present have Democrat governors ( and the number may well be less than that after next month) To win office...House, Senate, or state capitol, in any of these blue states requires a candidate who advocates a very liberal agenda; and that makes it near impossible for any of those Democrats above to win a national race.
The political center of the country is to the right, and all of these Democrats are left-leaning. And when one considers that to win the Democrat nomination in a contested primary season, one has to run hard left to energize their base; well, let's just say it doesn't look to good for the donkey.
So, looking and leaning forward, the Democrats, and MSNBC have a really big problem.
How BIG???..well, let's just say that Bobby Valentine has a better chance of getting a manager's job than the Democrats have of winning the WH if Hillary finally packs it in.
Sherrod Brown, Senator from Ohio IF he survives a stiff challenge from Josh Mandel.
Jesse, Jr. He’ll be all cleaned up out of mayo by then!
About 70% of the population is more qualified to run than Hillary. If they could find Obama, the real question is who isn’t qualified to be President.
Barney Fa...sorry,Frank.He’s tanned,he’s rested,he’s...well,never mind.
By 2028, after 8 years of Romney and 8 years of Ryan - half the country won’t even remember who Hitlery - or peelface of grungey were.
Sandra Fluke?
Caption Hillary and Christina (Posted October 04, 2012)