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Move Over Sarah, The ‘Hillary For President’ Drumbeat Has Begun

by Glynnis MacNicol | 11:23 am, July 15th, 2010

» 34 comments

The rehabilitation of Hillary Clinton has been interesting to watch, and will likely get more so if this is any indication. An op-ed in today’s Wall St. Journal by Pete DuPont is making the case that Hillary Clinton could launch a formidable campaign against incumbent President Barack Obama in 2012.

The question of whether Hillary plans on making another White House run has been casually bandied about since her hard fought 2008 campaign against Obama, but this is the first time I can recall seeing it in a serious publication…though I strongly suspect it will not be the last. The speculation this time around comes as a direct result of Obama’s plunging poll numbers (Hillary, by contrast, rates 45% favorable and only 35% unfavorable) and the approaching mid-terms, which even Press Sec. Robert Gibbs is none too optimistic about. Neither of these things, of course, are remotely new challenges for a incumbent president to face — Bill Clinton in 1994 is obviously the first example to spring to mind. What is new, however, is the wave of euphoria that Obama swept into office on, making this plunge all the more dramatic. But also: Sarah Palin.

First, here are the reasons DuPont thinks Hillary would be a good choice for the Dems:

She is one of the most experienced prospective candidates the Democratic Party has had in a long while: wife of a governor, U.S. first lady [nice that these attributes are now considered boons], senator and now secretary of state. This is a good record to run on as someone who knows how the government works.

Fourth, she is an experienced foreign-policy adviser who understands the threats to our national security: unresolved conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, rising threats of nuclear capability in Iran and North Korea, and uncertainties in Pakistan.

Fifth, experience will be even more important to voters in the 2012 presidential election, whose 2008 gamble on someone with little experience is proving costly.

All good strong, reasons, and ones that are notably lacking on the GOP side. Ironically, what DuPont neglects to include is the fact that Hillary’s a woman could also be a huge selling point, particularly now that Sarah Palin has been banging the Mama Grizzly drum so consistently.

It’s not a secret that Palin of late has been ingeniously cashing in on those 18 million cracks in the ceiling Hillary so notably inspired in 2008. In fact, lest we forget, in the beginning that was Palin’s reason for being: to allow the McCain campaign to capitalize on all those women votes. In the interim however she’s built (in ways no one could have anticipated) enough national clout to be widely considered the GOP’s strongest candidate for Oval Office, which may say as much about the roster of GOP candidates as it says about Palin — who I am still not convinced actually wants to be president — but nevertheless she’s a force to be reckoned with. Likely absolutely nothing could take the wind out of those sails faster or more permanently than Hillary Clinton. A hypothetical I imagine the media is going to harp on in the next few months: could there be a greater gift to the calbers and blogosphere than a Clinton vs Palin election year?

Mind you, there’s also the question of whether Hillary Clinton wants to be president still, or would consider launching a campaign against an incumbent from her own party (the last person to seriously do so was Pat Buchanan in 1992); one imagines Obama’s poll numbers would have to be rock bottom to justify such a decision. And even then it would be tough.

Of course, it’s still early and plenty could happen in the next 12 months that would entirely change the national political stage: the hole could be plugged, the economy could rebound. That said, the media started beating the Obama drum shortly before the 2006 midterms so perhaps it’s not that early at all, if the 2008 political season is anything to go by — and granted Bush was not an incumbent — the presidential debates should begin sometime next April.

barack obama, Election 2012, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin

Jackie_Treehorn

Good maybe we can get a Dem with some balls finally who won’t kowtow to the right wing clowns.
libra blue

I wonder how long it will be before Obama and his cronies start calling her and her husband racists again?
Pablo

Wait, why would Hillary run when Obama is so overwhelmingly popular and doing such an awesome jo….baaaahahahahahahah!!! I almost made it through that with a straight face.
Azarkhan

This may excite the chattering classes, but it’s not going to happen.

Imagine the Democrat Party, which lives off playing the race card, abandoning the first black president for a white woman. The first core constituency they would lose would be the black vote. Also, the party abandoned Ms. Clinton in 2008 for Barack Obama when he wasn’t president. Now that he is president and de facto head of the party, how could the Democrats possibly reject him?

Even if Pres Obama’s regime sinks as low as Jimmy Carters, which is a possibility, it is useful to recall that Carter beat Ted Kennedy like a drum in the primaries in 1980, even though several polls showed Kennedy leading Carter among Democrats. (It should also be noted that one reason Kennedy ran was because Carter would not support a government-run national health care system, deeming it too expensive.)

Furthermore, the Democrats are much more radical in 2010 than they were in 1980, and Barack Obama embodies that radicalism. In the 70′s and 80′s there were well-respected conservative Democratic senators like Patrick Moynihan, Henry Jackson and Sam Nunn, among others, who would find it difficult to fit in with today’s Democrat Party. Senator Evan Bayh’s short career is a testimony to that. While I believe that Ms. Clinton is as radical as Barack Obama, I don’t think netroots Democratic activists view her that way.

Barring some unforeseeable catastrophe, Obama will be the Democrat Party candidate in 2012.
Andromeda2

I would welcome her candidacy. She should have won in the first place, but Obama hit her pretty hard in the primaries and the media chose him over Hillary from the getgo. We need experience. The Presidency is not an entry level position.
Not Your Typical New Yorker

This is journalistic ipecac, how low have we gone when obama makes hillary look good?…GAH!
MichelleF

In related news:

Ex-Clinton fundraiser gets 12 years in prison

NEW YORK – A wealthy Manhattan investment banker who was once a top fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton and other big-name Democrats has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for bank fraud.

Hassan Nemazee (hah-SAHN’ nah-MAH’-zee) was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.

He had reached a plea deal in March. He has admitted to three counts of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud.

Prosecutors say he forged signatures and concocted bogus account statements to conceal a scam in which he was using proceeds from new loans to pay off older ones.

Nemazee had been the national finance chairman of Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He also raised money for President Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/ap_on_bi_ge/us_investment_banker_fraud_1
juan

Hillary has backed Obama’s policies!

She is aligned too closely with him!
libra blue

@Azarkhan, “Imagine the Democrat Party, which lives off playing the race card, abandoning the first black president for a white woman.”

You are right, no matter how terrible BO’s ratings become the Dems will never abandon “the first black president” and he knows it.
libra blue

@Andromeda2, “She should have won in the first place”

But the Dems and the MSM threw her under the bus. Remember when David Gergen called her supporters “rednecks” and CNN beat up on Lannie Davis and Paul Begala?
valkyrie101

Yes, well, we all know that the republicans would hope for Hillary to run against Obama, thus the Wall Street Journal and FOX promotion of that. But incumbents are rarely challenged. On the other hand, there is more than a small possibility that the republicans will end up with a third party running from the far right, and if that happens, they will be as dead as Bush 41 was when Perot ran.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

Can we talk about reality? THis is a GOP fantasy. She can’t win without Obama supporters and there is no way in hell the democrat party will divide like this. What a fantasy created by the GOP and Mediaite. Pathetic. It must be a slow news day.
Averreauxii

Wishful thinking. This is bait and switch. Conservatives want to get rid of Obama and if they can hype H. Clinton’s profile to create disunity among democratic ranks, the easier their job will be. I mean……look at their presidential candidates…LOL. They are struggling against Obama in head to head matchups with Obama in Obama’s bad year! You guys (GOP) better pray you do not win the house and/or the senate. The public that is so with you right now will see how transparent your vacuous rhetoric has been after you are forced to actually govern behind a set of policies.
felixw

Reminds me of the disastrous Jimmy Carter administration, which was so feeble that it invited Ted Kennedy to try to take the nomination away from a sitting President of his own party. And we all remember how the election of 1980 turned out….Republicans came into the White House, and held it for 12 years, until memories of the incompetence of the Democrat party began to fade.

Look for a repeat in 2012.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Thorkil-Kowalski-Vrge/566276352 Thorkil Kowalski Værge

“Mind you, there’s also the question of whether Hillary Clinton wants to be president still”
No. She still wants to be President.

But I tend to agree with Dave Noland as far as this is a GOP fantasy. That does, however, not mean that it can’t happen if Obama gets more unpopular than he already is. I think 2010 will be a landslide victory for GOP – especially with a deteriorating economy. The Dems will imho lose both Senate and Congress but is that enough for Hillary to run? Who knows?

You should have linked to O’Reilly’s and Bernie Goldberg’s take on this, Mediaite:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4280512/obama-vs-clinton-round-2/?playlist_id=87253
newzmaker

I’m not fond of Hillary or Obama, but Hillary does appear to be the most intelligent of the two. Obama doesn’t seem to know if he’s coming or if he’s going. Even Obama’s most ardent supporters are beginning to say, “my God, what have we done to this country, by putting this inept dude into the White House?” Obama’s resume should say, “Hey, I give a great speech, but other than that, I got nothing else to offer.” LOL.
MerryMarjie

Hillary Clinton was my choice in 2008 and would certainly be my choice in 2012, but why would she accept the nomination from a party that ran roughshod over her and scrambled to put Obama on a pedestal? Common sense would have suggested that Hillary Clinton was much more prepared to take the reins from Bush than a freshman Senator, but Ted Kennedy and the rest of them be-knighted Obama, put him in shining armor and trotted him up to the White House. He was not prepared, was not the political fighter, and is quietly and quickly making a mess of the Presidency. We’re still at war, have many more troops in Afghanistan, and he’s still doling out promises. I’m just disgusted.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

Thorkil Kowalski Værge said:
a fantasy created by the GOP and Mediaite. Pathetic. It must be a slow news day.

Obama’s approval despite this false narrative is holding firm at 47-50%. Latest Blomberg poll has him at 52% it’s been like this for 6 months.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

newzmaker said:
I’m not fond of Hillary or Obama, but Hillary does appear to be the most intelligent of the two. Obama doesn’t seem to know if he’s coming or if he’s going. Even Obama’s most ardent supporters are beginning to say, “my God, what have we done to this country, by putting this inept dude into the White House?” Obama’s resume should say, “Hey, I give a great speech, but other than that, I got nothing else to offer.” LOL.

Excuse me Hilary look-aid drinkers at this point Obama has more experience as president. WHY? Because he has been president for 18 months and is dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances.
newzmaker

Dave Noland said:
Excuse me Hilary look-aid drinkers at this point Obama has more experience as president. WHY? Because he has been president for 18 months and is dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances.

If you want to get technical about this issue, numerous allegations were made that Hillary was the actual president, when her husband was elected; Bill merely played the role of president and partied with Monica. If that was the case, Obama’s 18 months can’t come close to Hillary’s 8 years as president. LOL.
sarainitaly

Thorkil Kowalski Værge said:
You should have linked to O’Reilly’s and Bernie Goldberg’s take on this, Mediaite:

They covered this already, here:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-goldberg-on-2012-president-race-keep-an-eye-on-hillary/

And as I mentioned in that thread, this drumbeat started back in January, with Jack Cafferty and Dick Morris joining the band.

The chatter has increased in recent days about Clinton leaving the cabinet sometime in the first term, likely over some matter of principle, so that she can position herself to challenge Obama in 2012. Perhaps it is just wishful thinking on the part of those Democrats who have already grown tired of Obama.

On the right, speculation is already rampant. On the conservative site RedState, several bloggers have recently mused about a Hillary primary challenge to President Obama; Peggy Noonan floated the idea in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal; Dick Morris recently told Bill O’Reilly that “if Obama gets radioactive, there’s a significant possibility that she challenges him in 2012.”

“History suggests that it’s never a good idea to count a Clinton out, so here’s the question, should Hillary Clinton challenge Barack Obama in 2012, I hope she does”

While no one else in Washington is reporting that President Obama will ask Biden to step down as vice president before or after the 2012 campaign, some do believe that Hillary Clinton is planning to run against Obama in the Democratic primary in 2012.

Dick Morris: Hillary Clinton Is Throwing Obama Under The Bus For A 2012 Run

Links are here:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-goldberg-on-2012-president-race-keep-an-eye-on-hillary/#comment-90610
Nachi

Good, good, good Republiscum! Follow that herd!!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

newzmaker said:
If you want to get technical about this issue, numerous allegations were made that Hillary was the actual president, when her husband was elected; Bill merely played the role of president and partied with Monica. If that was the case, Obama’s 18 months can’t come close to Hillary’s 8 years as president. LOL.

PAAAALEEESEE
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

If you here this out of the voice of a pachyderm then you know it’s bullshit
chatmandu002

Bill Clinton should stop backing this dead horse and start backing his wife. Who will probably resign after Thanksgiving to start her run for president.
RazorsEdge

The headline:

Move Over Barack, The ‘Hillary For President’ Drumbeat Has Begun

seems more fitting. That would be a Hell of a bold move, but I still seriosly doubt she would make that move. What a great story/primary that would be to cover.

As far as GOP fantasy? Not sure, it would seem that the GOP at this stage (lots of time until 2012) would prefer to face Pres. Obama and NOT Hillary.

PPP just released a poll that shows Pres. Obama trailing many of the “usual” GOP projected 2012 candidates.
sarainitaly

MerryMarjie said:
Common sense would have suggested that Hillary Clinton was much more prepared to take the reins from Bush than a freshman

Everyone knew he wasn’t ready, including:

Bill
Bill
Hillary
Biden
Barack
Michelle
McCain nailed it here.

They just didn’t want to listen.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Noland/1343446359 Dave Noland

chatmandu002 said:
Bill Clinton should stop backing this dead horse and start backing his wife. Who will probably resign after Thanksgiving to start her run for president.

chatmandu002 = Elephant dung
felixw

Even the liberal Public Policy Polling sees Obama no better than tied with Palin in a 2012 matchup. Amazing given the constant smears and character attacks against Palin in the mainstream media for the last 2 years! And the Great Leader can’t even get a majority against her in a liberal-tilting poll? Mark my words, Obama is digging the Democrats into a hole of cosmic proportions. Scott Brown was just the first taste, and big dose is coming their way in November.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/15/ppp-obama-palin-tied-4646-in-2012-polling/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Peter-Engel/752199074 Peter Engel

I’m inclined to agree with chatmandu002. If Hillary quits as SoS after the mid-terms, it means she has serious backing. If she stays put, this is just bloviating.
Sean68

Hillary should have been the nominee. White guilt is the reason Obama won.
http://PoliticalGlutton.com PoliticalGlutton

I find it disappointing that Mediaite would continue to push this non story. There is no evidence this is happening. It’s the Right Wing attempting to divide Democratic Primary voters ahead of 2012. Mediaite, in my opinion, has chose a very low road to continue spreading this BS. It’s out tabloid-ing itself and seems to be repeating this nonsense as one of the ways to “trick” people into visiting it’s site. It’s a shame because the very last thing we need s is another bottom dwelling website promoting misinformation for the purposes of profits. But I guess it’s easy money and that is certainly more attractive and less work than responsible journalism.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-del-Carmen/100000285604219 Jonathan del Carmen

hillary clinton 2012!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Gessford/657775682 Susan Gessford

I am bot certain that Obama even wants a second term. If Dems pick up seats and can quiet the naysayers for five minutes, he will get even more legislation passed. But with a young family, he may be satisfied with that. That will be the only way I see Hillary interested. She will not split the party.

I say GO HILLARY!