Posted on 07/15/2010 2:26:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The rehabilitation of Hillary Clinton has been interesting to watch, and will likely get more so if this is any indication. An op-ed in todays Wall St. Journal by Pete DuPont is making the case that Hillary Clinton could launch a formidable campaign against incumbent President Barack Obama in 2012.
The question of whether Hillary plans on making another White House run has been casually bandied about since her hard fought 2008 campaign against Obama, but this is the first time I can recall seeing it in a serious publication though I strongly suspect it will not be the last. The speculation this time around comes as a direct result of Obamas plunging poll numbers (Hillary, by contrast, rates 45% favorable and only 35% unfavorable) and the approaching mid-terms, which even Press Sec. Robert Gibbs is none too optimistic about. Neither of these things, of course, are remotely new challenges for a incumbent president to face Bill Clinton in 1994 is obviously the first example to spring to mind. What is new, however, is the wave of euphoria that Obama swept into office on, making this plunge all the more dramatic. But also: Sarah Palin.
First, here are the reasons DuPont thinks Hillary would be a good choice for the Dems:
She is one of the most experienced prospective candidates the Democratic Party has had in a long while: wife of a governor, U.S. first lady [nice that these attributes are now considered boons], senator and now secretary of state. This is a good record to run on as someone who knows how the government works.
Fourth, she is an experienced foreign-policy adviser who understands the threats to our national security: unresolved conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, rising threats of nuclear capability in Iran and North Korea, and uncertainties in Pakistan.
Fifth, experience will be even more important to voters in the 2012 presidential election, whose 2008 gamble on someone with little experience is proving costly.
All good strong, reasons, and ones that are notably lacking on the GOP side. Ironically, what DuPont neglects to include is the fact that Hillarys a woman could also be a huge selling point, particularly now that Sarah Palin has been banging the Mama Grizzly drum so consistently.
Its not a secret that Palin of late has been ingeniously cashing in on those 18 million cracks in the ceiling Hillary so notably inspired in 2008. In fact, lest we forget, in the beginning that was Palins reason for being: to allow the McCain campaign to capitalize on all those women votes. In the interim however shes built (in ways no one could have anticipated) enough national clout to be widely considered the GOPs strongest candidate for Oval Office, which may say as much about the roster of GOP candidates as it says about Palin who I am still not convinced actually wants to be president but nevertheless shes a force to be reckoned with. Likely absolutely nothing could take the wind out of those sails faster or more permanently than Hillary Clinton. A hypothetical I imagine the media is going to harp on in the next few months: could there be a greater gift to the calbers and blogosphere than a Clinton vs Palin election year?
Mind you, theres also the question of whether Hillary Clinton wants to be president still, or would consider launching a campaign against an incumbent from her own party (the last person to seriously do so was Pat Buchanan in 1992); one imagines Obamas poll numbers would have to be rock bottom to justify such a decision. And even then it would be tough.
Of course, its still early and plenty could happen in the next 12 months that would entirely change the national political stage: the hole could be plugged, the economy could rebound. That said, the media started beating the Obama drum shortly before the 2006 midterms so perhaps its not that early at all, if the 2008 political season is anything to go by and granted Bush was not an incumbent the presidential debates should begin sometime next April.
The answer to a dream would be a contest like this. Hillary against somebody with conservative values, values like raising your children compared to breeding and dumping them on a day care center and wanting our taxes to be spent raising them. Values like going out Saturday night for some fun and then especting us to pay for executing the consequences. Sarah Palin is the epitome of what a young man would want as a partner for life. No matter what the goofballs in the media would like to do to her, There are enough young men above the median IQ level to damage their efforts. Enough young women also.
My feeling is that a head to head between Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton would show them that they swung the pendelum too far to the left. I’d give anything to see it. Please Mr. Gingrich move out of the way and let Sarah
show what these people are really made of. I believe they are decendents of the same stock that wrote the Declaration or penned the Constitution when pushed to the extreme, and they have been.
Hillary Is Saul Alinskys prize Student,How do I know that He said It Himself. Why do we want to replace one Alinsky Communist Radical with another one?
I’ve been waiting for this.
Not to sound like I have a tin foil hat collection, but something between these two never added up. The whole secret meeting thing and all.
And notice, Hillary has managed to stay out of harms way for the most part when it has come to dicey issues with foreign affairs. Other than run down to Haiti, what has she really done?
She hasn’t even claimed she’s been shot at while on some trip overseas.
Uh, I think coattails was referring to Clinton.
Once again, the monster rises from the depths...
"You Shall Not Pass!"
That's a good one, Karl!
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