Posted on 11/03/2004 12:29:48 PM PST by Michael Goldsberry
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scarred from their second defeat at the hands of George W. Bush, the Democratic party will be searching for names who can take on the Republicans in four years. And an obvious one is Clinton.
Many Democrats and experts believe that if Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) had the same charisma as ex-president Bill Clinton (news - web sites) he would have easily taken revenge this week for Bush's controversial defeat of Al Gore (news - web sites) in 2000.
But Hillary Clinton (news - web sites) is the most quoted name for the next contender.
University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato believes there are several reasons why Kerry lost Tuesday's vote.
"One, he is too liberal, well to the left of the American mainstream on the critical social and cultural issues such as abortion, gay rights and gun control."
More important for Sabato was personality.
"John Kerry is no Bill Clinton. There is very little warmth there, and people didn't warm to him. A moderate Democratic candidate with personal warmth would have defeated George W. Bush easily."
The new defeat is certain to lead to some painful soul-searching within the Democratic party.
After Bill Clinton's victory in 1992 and re-election in 1996, his vice-president Al Gore was narrowly defeated by Bush in 2000 even though he won the popular vote.
The Democrats were hit hard in 2002 mid-term elections, losing control of the Senate and seeing the Republicans extend their advantage in House of Representatives.
Bush's new victory left a bitter taste for many Democrats who look back to the Clinton years with affection even though the ex-president divided the country with many of his actions.
Bill Clinton electrified a crowd of tens of thousands when he returned from a quadruple heart by-pass to appear at a rally with Kerry eight days before the vote.
Though thinner, Clinton was given rapturous applause after castigating the Bush administration and telling adoring fans "my fellow Americans, we can do better."
Clinton remains wildly popular with core Democratic voters, especially black Americans, a voting bloc Kerry was never able to touch in the same way.
Kerry has been criticized as a one-dimensional campaigner compared to Clinton.
Now Hillary Clinton, the senator for New York state, is likely to dominate the Democratic party debate while she makes up her mind whether to stand.
"Hillary Clinton is the natural heir apparent" of Bill, according to Allan Lichtman, a political science professor at the American University in Washington.
Wildly popular among Democratic loyalists and able to raise vast amounts of campaign funds, Hillary Clinton has "worked very, very hard not to play into a caricature of herself," according to a Democratic party strategist who asked not to be named.
She is however the Democrat that hard-core Republicans most love to hate.
"The Republicans will very happily reverse to a caricature, and she becomes a lot less appealing when she puts herself forward" as a candidate, the strategist said.
So there is an outside chance that the Democratic party's 2008 presidential candidate is a long shot bet.
Barack Obama, a 43-year-old rising star in the party who became the lone black American senator in Tuesday's election, is talked about as a possible future candidate.
The Democrats "need only nominate a moderate candidate with warmth," said Sabato, pointing to figures like telegenic Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.
MONIKA MADE HER PRACTICE.
Hillary can't win. She could have possibly won in a pre-9/11 climate, but now, with a WOT that will last for years, even the Dims felt compelled to put a fraudulent 'war hero' at the top of their ticket.
Uh, could you maybe move the camera back a few 100 yards next time. Blech!
Make our day.
KERRY DEFEATED, DASSHOLE DEFEATED, CONGRESS GAINS...WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They might have a better chance with Roger than Hillary.
I believe that you will see 4 years of continuous
annoiting of Hillary by the media. By the time the next election rolls around she'll ride in in a solid gold carriage with a crown on her head. This stuff is not too hard to figure out.
I'm usually loathe to give advice to Democrats, but let's be blunt here -- the dumbest thing that party ever did was hitch its wagon to a jack@ss from Arkansas who was elected to the White House with 43% of the popular vote.
Yeah, but if I were Bill Clinton I'd still insist that she uses a paper bag with holes over her head..
Other names I expect to see in the future for the dems... Obama and Harold Ford. Very nice, smooth dems with nice personalities with quiet leftist agendas. We need to have young candidates in the pipeline too.
By following the Clintons, the DemonRats will continue their descent into political Hell. They seem to learn nothing from their mistakes. Stupid is, as stupid does.
But, Hillary! tried to sign up for the Marines. Isn't that as important as an extended tour of duty in Vietnam?
Somebody tell the Dems that John Kerry with his mannequin personality got more votes than Clinton had ever hoped to get in either of his wins, and in 96 running against a retired guy. OTOH maybe I won't tell them.
So, Hillary would be less liberal, favor ristrictions on abortion and gay marriage, and oppose gun control? So, Hillary is "a moderate Democratic candidate with personal warmth?" She is everything Kerry was, only without the sincerity. Trust me, America will not go for this woman.
Hillary's warm -- compared to, say, Mr. Freeze (Batman nemesis).
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