Why Hillary Clinton Shouldn't Run
That Hillary Clinton can't win in '08 is a favorite topic for liberal blogs. The Daily Kos vehemently opposes her candidacy and its author even wrote to the Washington Post, just in case he wasn't reaching enough people. I'm one of the people who not only thinks she can't win, but would beg her not to run, if she'd listen.
There are some simple facts to support this. In polls, McCain leads Clinton by 11 percentage points in a National election (50 to 39). Giuliani even bests Clinton by 12 percentage points (51 to 39). But the real kicker, are Hillary's favorable/unfavorables. A CBS news poll in July found her favorables at 32% and her unfavorables at 39%. People have made-up their minds about Hillary Clinton. She is a polarizing figure and little will change that in November, no matter how much people dislike the Republicans right now.
The problem for liberals at this juncture is not Hillary's weakness vis-a-vis Republicans, but her strength among democrats. Polls show that 43% of democrats support her. Her war chest is unrivaled, her celebrity status brings crowds to a frenzy, and her husband remains (for irrational reasons) the idol for democrats across the land. She is terrifying as a Primary candidate. Our problem is that Hillary would be hard for other democrats to beat, but minced pie come November. The 800 pound gorilla would slap around most challengers, and while I pray that Democrats would wake-up as they did with Howard Dean, it would drain the budgets of most challengers looking to take the White House back. She would sink like the Titanic: majestic, brilliant, but ultimately dooming the poor and the under-served, while the Rich scuddle off to better things.
Ezra Klein has a better idea: Hillary should fight for the Senate leadership post. At least that's a job she can win.
Posted by Peter
There are some simple facts to support this. In polls, McCain leads Clinton by 11 percentage points in a National election (50 to 39). Giuliani even bests Clinton by 12 percentage points (51 to 39). But the real kicker, are Hillary's favorable/unfavorables. A CBS news poll in July found her favorables at 32% and her unfavorables at 39%. People have made-up their minds about Hillary Clinton. She is a polarizing figure and little will change that in November, no matter how much people dislike the Republicans right now.
The problem for liberals at this juncture is not Hillary's weakness vis-a-vis Republicans, but her strength among democrats. Polls show that 43% of democrats support her. Her war chest is unrivaled, her celebrity status brings crowds to a frenzy, and her husband remains (for irrational reasons) the idol for democrats across the land. She is terrifying as a Primary candidate. Our problem is that Hillary would be hard for other democrats to beat, but minced pie come November. The 800 pound gorilla would slap around most challengers, and while I pray that Democrats would wake-up as they did with Howard Dean, it would drain the budgets of most challengers looking to take the White House back. She would sink like the Titanic: majestic, brilliant, but ultimately dooming the poor and the under-served, while the Rich scuddle off to better things.
Ezra Klein has a better idea: Hillary should fight for the Senate leadership post. At least that's a job she can win.
Posted by Peter
posted by PWN at 5:24 AM
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