Posted on 04/07/2011 4:38:34 AM PDT by Kaslin
Otherwise sane people speculate that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will resign her post and challenge President Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2012. But Hillary's futile challenge would have a far more damaging effect than that inflicted on Al Gore by persona non grata Ralph Nader in '00. After Dems get through blaming her for Obama's fall '12 defeat, neither Bill nor Hillary would be able to get a table at Fatburger.
Here are the 10 reasons why she won't do it.
10. She's not a fool. If she ran, she'd lose.
The Clintons couldn't defeat Obama when he was an inexperienced freshman senator. But they're supposed to snatch the nomination from him as an inexperienced incumbent President? Puh-leeeze.
9. The rationale behind her candidacy is exactly what?
That Obama is a confused and indecisive commander in chief? That Obama took forever to decide that the Afghanistan War is worth fighting and winning? That Obama made reckless promises to close Guantanamo Bay and to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court in New York? That, after naively criticizing President Bush's prosecution of the War on Terror, Obama continues nearly all of his policies?
All true. So what? The primary/caucus left-lefties like their Democrats to vacillate on foreign policy. They equate vacillation with thoughtfulness.
8. The Democrats who do the nominating love Obama.
He signed ObamaCare, while President Bill Clinton failed to pull off HillaryCare. Obama passed "stimulus," and thus rewarded government workers who helped him win the presidency. He replaced two left-wing Supreme Court justices with two left-wing Supreme Court justices. Dems blame the undone stuff -- cap and trade, union card check, raising taxes on the rich -- on Republican/tea party resistance to (aka racism against) a black president. What's not to like?
7. Hillary would make Obama spend money to fend her off -- leaving him financially weakened.
With less money in Obama's war chest, a Republican victory becomes more likely. Campaign contributions would flow from Obama and to the Republican, as the lobbyists sense blood and jump to the winning side.
6. A challenge from Hillary would provide scads of anti-Obama sound bites, quips and put-downs -- all deliciously usable.
Imagine the GOP hit ad: (Baritone voice-over) "Secretary of State Clinton warned us about the 3:00 a.m. call."
Pan to a desk clock reading 3:00 a.m. Pan to empty bed. Cut to Obama in sunny Rio teeing off on the ninth hole.
(Voice-over) "She was right."
5. The 1968 analogy is a bad one.
President Lyndon Johnson was challenged from the left. He faced a formidable one-issue challenger in Eugene McCarthy, who had a strong anti-Vietnam War message that resonated with young people who faced a draft. And McCarthy did not win the New Hampshire primary -- a surprising strong 42 percent, but second nonetheless. The damage done, Robert Kennedy jumped into the race four days later.
Facing a battle against Kennedy "royalty," a rising Vietnam war body count and chants of "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?!" the weary Johnson stunned the nation by deciding not to run.
Clinton has no McCarthy-like stalking horse to bruise Obama -- so she can swoop in and pick the carcass. Plus, Obama is not job-weary. Nor is the youth anxious over Afghanistan and Iraq, given the all-volunteer military.
4. The 1980 analogy is even worse.
President Jimmy Carter was challenged from the left. Yet even with the Jack-Bobby-Camelot glow still fairly intense, Ted Kennedy could not unseat a weak incumbent who was disliked and distrusted by his own party. Carter survived a nasty, divisive political convention. Obama's leftist bona fides, however, remain intact.
3. The nostalgic "we're thinking about getting the band back together" thing won't fly.
The FOBs, friends of Bill, now work for Obama or used to or want to. Bill Clinton's former policy advisor, Rahm Emanuel, just finished a stint as Obama's chief of staff. Obama's new chief of staff served as Clinton's secretary of commerce.
2. The media still adore Obama.
They helped him get elected, and they will help him get renominated and then re-elected. Obama, alone among the major Democratic '08 rivals -- and to the delight of the major media -- opposed the "dumb" Iraq War from the start. They remember. Plus, several well-connected "journalists" left their money-losing, dead or dying publications and now work for Obama.
1. Blacks would go absolutely, positively berserk!
The 95 percent black pro-Obama 2008 voting block would crumble if Hillary even attempted to "steal" the presidency from the first (real) black president. If she somehow, some way, managed to win the nomination, blacks wouldn't vote Republican -- but they'd sure stay home.
To summarize: A Clinton challenge to Obama would inflict so much damage and intra-party angst that the Republicans could run Snooky in 2012 -- and win.
So, please, Hillary, do it -- for your country.
Obama is not black. He found black in the closet and wears it as needed.
She won’t run for president because she’ll have to cut her hair, wash her hair, pay hard cash to have someone style her hair every day, do something about the bags under her eyes, lose weight, get a new wardrobe. Shall I go on, LOL?
I think there is no fear of losing the black voting block if Hillary won. It is more like she knows that probably 30% of the dem primary voters are black, so significant a portion, she has zero chance of overcoming it during a challenge. Her only hope would be if he was shown the door but that has as much chance of happening as my becoming pope.
Hillary sits in the wings waiting for to jump into the spot light. It is like sitting next to a rattle snake and hoping it will not bite.
Dontcha love his patronizing Southern accent he trots out?
Given the behavior of the Obamabots in the last democrat primary, there will be all out democrat civil war if she does run.
More power to her.
“The rationale behind her candidacy is exactly what?”
Among many other things, her main problem the last time around was that she had too much baggage. It gave her opponent a real edge.
Well... now that “O’s” abysmal background and performance are painfully evident to all, how can her ‘baggage’ matter?
I was thinking that she’d capitalize on all the Liberal dissatisfaction with “O” and his corner.
ALSO, if Conservatives field a female candidate, ONLY a Liberal female (read-Evita) can effectively challenge her.
Just my opinion.
No way in h*ll. This is a fantasy experienced by the same people who imagined the Clinton’s were some unstoppable machine back in 2008. They weren’t then; they aren’t now. Just because they killed a few people and sequestered a bunch of FBI files and diddled a few interns while they owned the WH doesn’t make them formidable. I was always, always skeptical of all that “formidable Clinton” BS.
The Clinton’s right now are about as formidable as Mikey Dukakis.
I think she’ll be “unwillingly drafted.”
I guess I’m an “unwilling idiot.”
Pray that NO Democrat or RINO is elected President!
“I think she’ll be ‘unwillingly drafted.’”
That’s what I thought, although Elder makes some good points. Also, she seems genuinely tired. Maybe being Obama’s lackey in the world’s god-forsaken outposts has taken its toll. When she was asked recently whether she wanted to run for president or any other office her answers were a series of unhesitating NOs. But she’s still got her following of p-—ed off feminazis who think she got a raw deal who will push her to run. I can also see her playing the reluctant candidate, but not sure she has the energy it would take to pull it off.
Notice how nobama’s back with the “the Presidency is a tough job” Ron Popeil spray-on greying hair AGAIN?
Hilary looks her age. She looks tired to the max. I cannot see her running again.
If she had won last time around she would have been able to golf, goof off and go on vacation non-stop. In her position now, she’s workin’ her butt off.
Pan to a desk clock reading 3:00 a.m. Pan to empty bed. Cut to Obama in sunny Rio teeing off on the ninth hole.
(Voice-over) “She was right.”
I Love It. See if the republicans have the testicular fortitude to do it.
Hillary will not run. Period.
However, please remember the phrase:
“ Blacks would go absolutely, positively berserk!”
We will here this statement in 2012 become louder, if by late Oct 2012, the Presidential election favors the GOP.
This is a very good point and I agree with it. She really looks ragged. It all depends on whether her ambition overrules her sense. Did I say sense? Now you see why I think she'll let herself get drafted after Trump "discovers" that she'd be the "perfect" compromise candidate since 0bama is damaged and Palin/whomever is too conservative.
That's my working theory for right now. Could easily change, of course.
Go Sarah/Cain!
Hillary would have been a much better President than Obungler. Much better.
Bill and Hill probably believe they can beat Obama (and they probably can). But to do it, they must mortally wound him and that will cost Hill a lot of black support in the general election.
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