That seems to be the buzz.
But could she really win? Could she capture more votes than John Kerry did last night? Certainly she’s more charismatic. She’s a proven campaigner and she was probably the brains behind any good decisions that Clinton made during his term. And both she and her husband are evidently still hugely popular.
But would it be enough?
I can’t help but think that… god damn, this election is just barely over! Can we give it a rest for a while before we start campaigning for the next one???
No. They need to start tomorrow. Four years passes way too quickly.
The ‘Conservatives’ up here better get their friggin’ butts in gear also. I can’t even follow their program without a Tourguide. What the hell are they doing?
Personally, I think Hilary would be seen in the vital southern states as too much a North Eastern Liberal — even though she’s from there, before becoming a born again New Yorker.
I think she could win, and NO it is not too early to start thinking of 2008, because it will take 4 years to build up the momentum to get her a WIN.
Jeremy
There’s lots of talk about Edwards, too – so there’s no clear candidate yet…
I hate to say it but I doubt she could. Many Americans are still very enamoured with men in power and may not respond as favourably to a woman candidate. Another problem is that, like Kerry, she could easily be painted by Republicans as a “Massachusettes liberal” (no she’s not from there, but you get the idea). Finally, as we saw with Kerry, it is much less difficult to elect a governor than a senator, because really any senator can be accused of flip-flopping, because it’s how the Senate works. Governors, whatever they’ve done, are rarely accused of showing no leadership or excessive waffling.
That being said, a Southerner has historically been a good thing for the Dems (Clinton, Carter)…it would offer much more broad-based support and have less of a polarizing effect. I think their most inspired choice could be Wesley Clark/John Edwards, or vice versa.
The Republicans will also need to pick a worth successor. I think the ultimate choice here would be Rudy Guiliani, if he’s up for it — in fact that may well be a landslide GOP victory. He has enough moderate appeal to attract many Democrats and many Republicans would likely have no one else to turn to. Jeb Bush is unrealistic because of the dynastic issue, or if they want to stick with an ultra-Conservative candidate, Bill Frist is worth thinking about. He’s known as a consensus-builder in the Senate and well-regarded on both sides of Congress.
My two cents.