I've got a good feeling about this

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Condi versus Hillary?

The first thought many Democrats had after the pasting they took in the 2004 elections was "At least we'll have Hillary in 2008." Unfortunately, Hillary may not be as much of a shoo-in as many Democrats would like. Although she has managed to avoid any miss-steps as a freshman Senator, there's a long memory of her attempts to institute a monolithic health care program during her husband's first term. There's also a strong association (naturally) with her husband. This will draw out the worst in the Republican voting ranks, and do little to bring swing voters over.

In some ways, her association with Bill Clinton highlights her own failings. Hillary comes across as a superb politician, but lacks her husband's ability to portray empathy. And despite Bill Clinton's centrist policies, there's strong concern that Hillary would move to the left on many issues.

However, the greatest threat that Hillary faces (if she does choose to seek the Presidency) is Condoleeza Rice. As the putative Republican nominee, Rice would attract both women and blacks to the Republican ticket like never before. And (depending on her success at the State Department) her pedigree for national security and diplomacy would be impeccable. Will it happen? The only other potential candidate that I see with the same amount of pull would be Rudy Guiliani. John McCain won't run again due to his health conditions, and even if he did, he would still be viewed as too hot-headed for the Oval Office.

1 Comments:

At 4:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That'd be pretty amazing, but I don't see it happening. I belive Hillary might give it a shot, but not Condi. Somebody always comes out of the woodwork to run. Who thought John Kerry would run in Nov 2000? Hell, who thought George W would run in 2000? Condi might bring in black votes, but I she doesn't have experience as an elected official (not sure here), and this would get her passed over by the Rep party. I think a governor like Jeb Bush, or someone like Rudi will run. Even if Condi does run, she won't make it out of the primaries for two reasons:

1) She's black.
2) She's a woman.

I'm not a big "everything is racist" guy, but I don't believe the country will elect a black woman president. Not yet. We haven't even put a woman up as a nominee before.

Hillary has a chance of being nominated, but I don't think even she will make it out. Not because she's a woman, but because, like you say, she doesn't exude empathy in any way whatsoever. She's brilliant, but less empathetic than John Kerry.

 

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