At the cost of getting someone like Giuliani in the White House?
Here are some interesting FACTS for the “we need to elect our own liberal or we wind up with Hillary” crowd:
1. Since the start of the Twentieth Century, ONLY TWO non-incumbent Democrats who were the “clear frontrunners” over a year out from the nomination have actually been nominated. Adlai Stevenson (1952, 1956) and Algore (2000) — both of whom lost.
2. The last non-incumbent Democrat who was the “clear frontrunner” a year out from the nomination to actually get nominated and win the presidency was Grover Cleveland in 1892. However, Grover Cleveland falls into an odd categore, he had already served a term as president (he won the 1884 election and lost in 1888) and the significance of that is below.
3. The last non-incumbent Democrat who was the “clear frontrunner” a year out from the nomination and had never been president before to actually get nominated and win the presidency (and this is the category that Hillary is in) was Andrew Jackson in 1828. (And it should be noted that Andrew Jackson defeated a Whig not a Republican.)