Posted on 11/03/2004 1:17:12 PM PST by Jane_N
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 had the same charisma as ex-president Bill Clinton he would have easily taken revenge this week for Bush's controversial defeat of Al Gore in 2000.
But Hillary Clinton 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 criticised 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.
AFP
i didnt even think of Bayh he could be dangerous
She'll give the Republicans another four years.
Can we not have one day of celebration without talking about HRH Rodham-Clinton????
Her husband's heart can no longer take it.
Oh yeah, well Hillary is other-dimensional as a campaigner. Hardly the "warm moderate" that Sabato alludes to. For that reason, the libs will nominate her.
I hope she does run. She has no appeal, personality, charm, etc.
She doesn't have a Chinaman's chance.
lol...sorry :S
If they nominate her she'll be slaughtered. The Democrats would be doing the Republicans (and Freepers) a huge favor.
The article speaks of Bill Clinton's warmth and, whether you like it or not, it's right. Doesn't matter whether the warmth is all an act or not, it's there and people believe it. Hillary has none of that. She might be able to raise money and she might get out the hard-core loyalists, but she wouldn't get anybody else.
The Democrats are going to go for yet another rerun: Kerry was Kennedy Lite; Gore was Clinton Heavy. Now they're gonna go back to the Clinton closet for another model?
The Dems better decide who they truly are and find a normal human as a candidate or they're going to come apart, leaving two wings of the party to reform into two new parties, which will be out of power for a looooong time.
Here we go!
; )
I hope you are all right. One Clinton in the White House was one Clinton too much.
There is only one REAL HAPPY democRAT right now. Her name is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
You can watch HRC over the next 4 tears move slowly to the center on every issue. Just like her husband did. She will become a leader in the senate and play a big role in trying to consolidate the dems. I wonder what Terry McCullife is up to today.
kind of hope they run her too. If so It could be that the Republicans will nominate a real Catholic, Jeb Bush.
Her "husband" doesn't need to worry about his heart - he needs to worry about a new treatment for syphilis before it gets worse.
"Doesn't matter whether the warmth is all an act or not, it's there....
An act? Surely he's not just warm, he's hot. Forty thousand women can't be wrong....
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