Hillary is Not Unbeatable
by Big Dog on Nov 26, 2007 at 18:16 Political
Since Bill Clinton left office after eight tumultuous years and his wife of convenience won a Senate seat in New York it has been widely speculated that she would run for the office of president and that she would win. She believes that the office of president is her manifest destiny, a right that she is owed by this country. She played coy, to be certain, but she knew all along what she intended to do even while she was denying she would run. She told voters who asked her if she would abandon New York for the White House that she was concentrating on winning her Senate seat, a ruse and half answer to make the uninformed believe that she had no aspirations to higher office. Then B. Hussein Obama came out early and announced his candidacy putting Hillary on the defense, a position that she does not like though as a Clinton, one to which she should be accustomed.
When Hillary announced she was running she was proclaimed the candidate to beat, the one with the experience, the one with the birthright to the presidency, a Hsu-in*, if you will. Hillary has been running a good campaign by keeping her interviews scripted, her questions planted, and her media friends happy. There is a certain segment that supports her out of fear or keeps their lack of support secret for much the same reason. If Hillary wins she will not forget those who crossed her and if she loses many will have hell to pay. Her name recognition and vague positions gave her a commanding lead when the whole campaign season kicked off but as time wore on her Democratic rivals began to attack her and that is where the cracks in her armor began to appear. She began fumbling for answers and has responded poorly to items that show her in a negative light.
Still Hillary was in the lead and looked unbeatable. She was in a tight race in Iowa but national polls showed her the presumptive winner in the primary and handily beating any Republican. Some of her supporters have commented here that her gaffs were minor and she has not suffered in the polls because she is a superior candidate and the things people are bringing up are non issues. It would seem that this is not the sentiment of the population now that Obama has taken the lead in Iowa. Hillary is not seen as invincible any longer. In a recent Zogby poll Hillary would lose to the top 5 Republicans if the election were held today. Hillary, whose people have been downplaying a potential loss in Iowa, now have to deal with news that she is not necessarily the front runner in the race.
The news gets worse for Hillary because the same poll shows that Obama beats every one of the Republicans to whom she loses. Couple this news with Obama’s surge in Iowa and this might make those who were weary of her in the first place even more inclined to vote for her toughest primary opponent. Democrats are so desperate to win the White House this news might cause a number of people to jump ship in hope that Obama can accomplish that task. Hillary, for all her faults, is not a dumb person. She has to know what the polls mean. She is an avid poll watcher and she has to comprehend what the future holds if current trends continue. She has to know that Obama will get a great lift from this poll because Democrats want someone who can not only win the primary but who can beat the Republican nominee and, right now, that person appears to be Obama.
The primaries kick off in about 5 or 6 weeks and a lot can happen between now and then. The Clinton camp can dig up some more dirt on Obama or release some false information just prior to the caucuses causing him to go into a tailspin. If current trends continue the dirt will be flying sooner rather than later as Hillary attempts to reign in her support and destroy Obama. Of course, she might be holding back because there are plenty of skeletons in her closet and she does not want them exposed. She also has some new issues with which to contend so she needs to tread carefully through the minefield of primary politics.
If she is not careful with how she slings the mud she might have to explain the rumors about her relationship with her female adviser. Another Clinton sex scandal might be just enough to sink her forever.
Source:
al Reuters
*Credit GM Roper for that one
Tags: commanding lead, Democrats, gaffs, hell to pay, Hillary, national polls, Obama, President, senate seat, wife of convenience
I’d vote for Obama if he won the primary. Until then I’m stickin’ with Hillary. I’m pretty excited to see the primaries coming up. That’s also just a few weeks from MLB spring training as well, but I digress…
Now that you are in this area you have to get to an Oriole game at Camden Yards. The Orioles suck but the ballpark is great so you should enjoy that aspect of it.
You are also close enough to see the Phillies, Mets, Yankees….
My son asked me if I could only vote for Obama or Clinton who would I pick (and he said I had to vote). Given those choices I would vote for Obama over Clinton. I don’t like his politics but I think he is at least a better person. I don’t know how much and maybe after he is in the open for a while he might be just as bad…
The bloom is off the rose. The left has always had concerns about her electability and this could start to proove their fears correct. They may start to turn to a candidate they fell is more electable.
I was hoping the Dodgers would come and play the O’s next year, but no such luck. I took my wife to see the Dodgers and Phillies in August (Dodgers won). She had never seen a live game. I went to 13 games while I lived in SF. I never had baseball so close in AR. Just STL, KC, ATL, all 4 or 5 hours away or more. I’ve seen the Dodgers play the White Sox in Chicago, the A’s in Oakland, the Giants in SF, and the Phillies in Philly. I’ll try and catch a Dodger game in every stadium around here before I head on out again for some other shore.
Obama has that untainted sense about him that the Clinton’s don’t have. They’re hardcore politicians as if it’s genetic, which turns off a lot of people of course. I like Obama a lot but I think his campaign has been very weak so far. Overall I’m pleased with the crop of Dems though. You never know who will win the primaries.
I guess anybody following really close in 2004 might have predicted Kerry to come close in those first few primaries (with his money mainly) but it was a surprise to me. I thought he was done for after he dropped the F-bomb at one of his campaign events. But Howard Dean really blew that one for sure…
I’m excited to watch a GOP Primary was well. There’s no heir to the throne on the GOP side like there was for Al Gore though. While I don’t believe Hillary thinks it’s her destiny to be president ( think she understands she must work very very hard to get and to keep the seat), I do think a sense of strange incumbency has developed on the Democrat side when it comes to her.
I think Clinton knows what she’s doing though. She has the best advisor’s money and power can get. She has name recognition other politicians would kill for (important in primaries). Also Bill Clinton is an asset, not a liability like some claim. He can still raise money and crowds like nobodies business. Still, I won’t bet on her just yet. I did however bet money that Huckabee won’t be the GOP winner. I may regret that bet though if he keeps looking strong in the early primary states.
All partisanship aside, don’t you think it is amazing that in a country of 300 million people we can’t find anyone besides a Bush or a Clinton to lead us?
While this back to back stuff is odd, it’s not been uncommon for presidents to be related. The Roosevelts’, the Adams’, Harrison’s, for example.
That said, I do think our elections are growing more and more closed from the general public. Not sure of the solution for it…
Politics has long been a rich person’s game and a filled with nepotism. Obviously, rich family members can run as others in the clan have because they can afford it.
Kennedy, Clinton, Bush, Sarbanes, Cardin, and God knows how many others impose their ruling class mentality on us.