but I heard a great synopsis the other day from some Dem that the Clintons are losing influence.....since Dean is not on thier team per se and the Clintons did not have any viable candidate for DNC Chairman.....don't ya think that if they had that much power they would have fielded a more substantial candidate for that role/????
This is my take: During the 2004 elections, there were tons of liberal 527's set up and they were raising funds hand over fist; including those supported by Soros. Some of Hillary's pals, like Sydney Bloomenthal, are running them. I expect Terrytoon will be heading one of them soon. Ickes is in place to spy on Dean's camp.
This leaves Hillary to run her own "moderate" campaign. Dean will lead the hate-Bush crowd and somehow they may manage to pull the whole thing together by 2008.
However, I think it will split the dems wide open - leaving Hillary without the support she will need to get elected. It's a Perot in reverse and we didn't even have to do anything. But 2008 will not be a cakewalk so don't anybody get comfortable.
I firmly believe the Clintons still run things and will for the forseeable future. Hill will be the candidate in '08, and Bill will be her campaign manager. (He can raise more money than just about anyone over the the DNC chair anyway, especially if McAuliffe is helping - which he will.)
All that to say that it doesn't really matter to Hillary right now that Dean is over at the DNC. He's going to lose bigtime during the midterms, at which time there will be a push to replace him with whoever Hill wants there. In the end, she'll have that person in place by early '07. All just in time to begin the run up to the presidential, starting around 9/07.