Democrats fear Hillary too risky

The Australian ^ | January 30, 2006 | Sarah Baxter

[demlosers]

HILLARY Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign is running

Leon Panetta, Mr Clinton's former chief of staff, said there was "nervousness" among Democrats about backing such a controversial figure at a time when many Americans believe President George W.Bush has polarised the country.

Like Mr McCurry, he wondered whether Ms Clinton was "the kind of lightning rod that would stimulate all of the opposition" and resurrect the "hate side of the political agenda".

"Ultimately the issue is: do we turn to something new? We've been through the Clintons, we've been through the Gores, we've been through the Kerrys, all of whom are known quantities in politics," Mr Panetta said.

Mr Bush described Ms Clinton as "formidable" in an interview ahead of his annual State of the Union address tomorrow. Republicans are determined not to underestimate her voter appeal in 2008, particularly as they are short of well-known candidates. "This is an unusual year because this is the first time there hasn't been a kind of natural successor in the party," Mr Bush said.

The Democrats have a rising star in Mark Warner, who recently stepped down as governor of the conservative state of Virginia. His proven appeal to moderate voters is attracting Democrats of all shades who are anxious to win, but he remains little known on the national scene.

The doubts about Ms Clinton's electoral viability have surfaced as she romps towards re-election as New York senator this year.

She has already seen off one Republican challenger, whose campaign was reduced to tatters, and last week dispatched another, Ed Cox, the son-in-law of former president Richard Nixon. He turned down his party's increasingly desperate pleas to stand.

Ms Clinton's modest success with voters in small-town upstate New York is taken by some as proof she can win over conservatives, although according to last week's poll, 90per cent of Republicans would definitely not vote for her.

New Republic magazine, the left-of-centre weekly, argues in its current issue that the voters of rural New York bear little comparison to diehard Republican voters in the south and midwest.

"She is going to have to bring something else to the national stage," it warned.

Ms Clinton's hawkish stance on the war on terror, Iraq and Iran has infuriated the anti-war movement. Molly Ivins, a left-wing commentator, wrote last week that she would not support her for president.

"Enough," she fumed. "Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone."

Mr McCurry believes that, contrary to popular belief, Ms Clinton is a conviction politician rather than "a wild-eyed liberal", but says that were she to become president her divisive reputation could get in the way of her program for government.

"It would not be a comfortable place to be hunkered in a bunker for four to eight years getting pelted by the Republicans with rotten tomatoes," he said.

Ms Clinton is waiting for her Senate race to be over in November before making a final decision on whether to stand. There is no doubt she would love to return to the White House, this time with Bill as "first gentleman".

The further away he is from the centre of power, the more Mr Clinton has gained in popularity. If he returns to the fray, the cash-for-pardons scandal at the end of his presidency and the minutiae of his sex life are likely to be re-examined. And after two Bushes in the White House, two President Clintons could be regarded as overly dynastic.

In the Senate, Ms Clinton has forged political alliances on such issues as the environment and healthcare with Senator John McCain, a 2008 Republican contender. According to Mr McCurry, she is enjoying the role of consensus-maker.

"She clearly understands there is a real need to re-establish some sense of bipartisan co-operation and has to ask herself: 'Could I be that kind of leader?'," he said.

"That takes you to the question the polls raise, which is: will she get that opportunity?"

The Sunday Times

[lentulusgracchus]

The only people who are "polarized" are Marxists, atheists, feminists, and homosexuals.

And jihadis, and Aztlanistas, and the NAALCP.

[John Valentine]

...at a time when many Americans believe President George W.Bush has polarised the country.

The only Americans who believe that President Bush has "polarized" the country are Democrats. Their ability to project their own faults onto others is legendary.

[smoothsailing]

The Democrats have a rising star in Mark Warner..

Oh no, not another rising star.I've lost count of all the times some unknown phony "moderate" is portrayed that way.

[lentulusgracchus]

Oh, and journalists.......but I see you already mentioned them.

;)

[AmericaUnited]

translation: she blew it big time with a typical liberal plantation remark...

They're realizing that in a national campaign, where you MUST be able to think on your feet, she is a walking disaster.

[wouldntbprudent]

The American people should be reminded at every point: a vote for MRS. BILL CLINTON is a vote to have the Sinkmeister wandering the halls of the White House again. Ick.

[Nachoman]

Al Gore said a Hillary candidacy was a risky scheme and that she should be put in a lock box.

[joonbug]

"Too risky"

Ya think? With 51% of people definitely against her as per a recent poll.

[JABBERBONK]

When Warner comes out for the war he is toast with the Democrats.....if he comes out against the war he is toast with the majority of Americans. Same holds true of Hillary. Don't be suprised if some lefty loon goes third party on an anti war agenda.

[maggief]

It may be risky getting near this outfit, (okay, in the last pic she wore a different pink shirt).



U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) joins U.S. Congressional leaders as they stand together to pledge honest leadership and an open government during an event at the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington January 18, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing



United States Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures as she addresses mayors attending the 74th Winter meeting of the The United States Conference of Mayors, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)



U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, speaks at a re-election fundraiser as Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski, right, looks on in Portland, Ore., Friday Jan. 27, 2006. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

[billhilly]

Let me be the first to ask?

"... resurrect the "hate side of the political agenda".

Just where do they think it has been buried? There is enough hate from the left wingers to spawn a celebrity out of a washed up hippie, Cindy Sheehan.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Remember that the Dems torpedoed Dean for Kerry because they thought Dean was too risky.

Dean torpedoed himself - YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Ohmigawd!!!!! She's back to wearing the Ol' Crusty pantsuit again!!!!!!!!!!
Ye gods!

[Brilliant]

You don't think that turned off the Dems, do you? Nah. The only reason they did not nominate Dean is that they thought he couldn't win. If the YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! had been saleable to the public, they would have gone with him.

[beckysueb]

The only Americans who believe that President Bush has "polarized" the country are Democrats. Their ability to project their own faults onto others is legendary.

My thoughts exactly. THEY are the ones who have polarized the country with their unreasonable hatred of Bush, and they have managed to get the Lame stream media including FoxNews to believe it is Bush who has "divided the nation".

[InvisibleChurch]

the dems will go with hillary because they are stupid and unimaginative... they are desperate to win and will go back to the old democrat playbook and try to run hillary on bill's record (!) ... they will lose miserably

[beckysueb]

Oh no, not another rising star.I've lost count of all the times some unknown phony "moderate" is portrayed that way.

aka Barak Obama. But now the DUmmies are mad at him, or they were this afternoon. This evening, he is probably their "rising star" again.

[TheLion]

Exactly....it is the Democrats who polarize, and have polarized this country. Their stock-in-trade.

[Lancer_N3502A]

[ChildOfThe60s]

getting pelted by the Republicans with rotten tomatoes

Nah, we'd use something with a little more pazazz, like rotten watermellons.

Really, when you think about it, it says a lot about her that even with a sickeningly sycophantic press she can't get better poll numbers. How McCurry and Panetta keep straight faces when they peddle this drivel is beyond me. New lows for amorality, even for politicos.

"She clearly understands there is a real need to re-establish some sense of bipartisan co-operation".

How does anyone write that down without LOL? I'd be too embarrassed. Of course I actually care about my country.