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Democrats need a break, and this could be it ... imagine, Condoleeza Rice running for President in 2008!

Americans For Rice

Knowing the Democrats, they'd nominate a Hilary/Al Sharpton ticket to run against her and still lose.

Onion headline this week:

Could Hillary Clinton Have What It Takes To Defeat The Democrats In 2008?

Ryan

I like Hilary Clinton a lot, but the Democrats truly would be fools if they nominate her for President. She has been demonized by the far right to a point that would be impossible to overcome. And that's not even considering her electoral handicaps of being female and a senator. Democrats need to learn from history and NOT nominate a senator next time. Pick a governor. Only one senator in the past 75 years has won the Presidency (and just barely at that) as opposed to five governors who have won in the same time period. Americans hate senators, except for their own.

Heh, before the election, I joked with a friend about two things: 1) Bush could joke about running for a third term because 'technically he wasn't elected the first time so it doesn't count' and 2) if Bush wins, and then Hilary wins in '08, that means only two families have run the country for the last 24, maybe 28 years.

I still think McCain's a front-runner if he gets the nomination - unless the party wants to nominate another guy like Bush - but not so much now that he's become more of a party-member and less the independent.

I think Hillary needs to go to Pakistan and kill Osama. Then she'll get elected. Maybe.

MK wrote:I still think McCain's a front-runner if he gets the nomination - unless the party wants to nominate another guy like Bush - but not so much now that he's become more of a party-member and less the independent.

McCain will be 72 in 2008, which would make him the oldest man elected President if he won. I think age will be a deterrent in them nominating him. I wouldn't mind seeing him be nominated though, because he's the closest thing to a tolerable Republican, and since he's a senator he'd probably lose anyway. But the Republicans seem to understand that governors are the ones that win, so I'd say Governor Bush of FLA is the front runner right now, sickening as that concept may be. The Democrats need to find themselves an electable governor, who's NOT from a state in the Northeast. That's their best hope.

czeskleba wrote:

MK wrote:I still think McCain's a front-runner if he gets the nomination - unless the party wants to nominate another guy like Bush - but not so much now that he's become more of a party-member and less the independent.

McCain will be 72 in 2008, which would make him the oldest man elected President if he won. I think age will be a deterrent in them nominating him. I wouldn't mind seeing him be nominated though, because he's the closest thing to a tolerable Republican, and since he's a senator he'd probably lose anyway. But the Republicans seem to understand that governors are the ones that win, so I'd say Governor Bush of FLA is the front runner right now, sickening as that concept may be. The Democrats need to find themselves an electable governor, who's NOT from a state in the Northeast. That's their best hope.

I thought Rove had already decided on running The Cat Killer Bill Frist?

The GOP will never nominate McCain -- he has too much integrity. I remember crossing party lines to support McCain in 2000, hanging out with a bunch of Republicans at a precinct caucus, scary stuff. Everyone seemed to be on Haldol.

Yeah, the age has been mentioned everywhere McCain goes, but even then, you can tell he WANTS it. But, as mentioned, getting the nomination is a challenge.

Rudy Guiliani seems to be losing a bit of momentum - he was never a good bet, really, but I think a better bet is probably Senate or something less ambitious.

Another Republican name being tossed around - NEWT GINRICH.

Doubt it'll turn out this way, but a race between McCain, Rice, Frist, Guiliani, and Ginrich would be interesting.

As for the Democrats, besides Hillary, I guess Edwards may make another try...we'll see if the Obama hype revs up again, but four years of the Senate to the Presidency casts real doubt on that. I doubt rumors of Kerry and Gore will materialize...only Nixon and not quite Reagan has been able to make successful 'comebacks' of that scale, and Nixon had plenty of help.

MK wrote:Doubt it'll turn out this way, but a race between McCain, Rice, Frist, Guiliani, and Ginrich would be interesting.

Interesting for Democrats, maybe, as none of those guys would have much chance of winning if the Dems field an even remotely viable candidate. Giuliani has too many mob ties and sex scandals for the Christian Right to ever embrace him. Gingrich is washed up. And as I keep harping, Senators are bad choices for candidates. I think the Republican nominee will be either Jeb Bush or someone we haven't heard of yet.

As for the Democrats, besides Hillary, I guess Edwards may make another try...we'll see if the Obama hype revs up again, but four years of the Senate to the Presidency casts real doubt on that. I doubt rumors of Kerry and Gore will materialize...only Nixon and not quite Reagan has been able to make successful 'comebacks' of that scale, and Nixon had plenty of help.

The first woman President and the first black President will probably have to be Republicans. The Democrats would be fools to nominate Clinton or Obama. And I think the days in which a failed candidate can re-win the nomination and run again are long behind us. Unlike the 50's when Stevenson could lose two elections in a row, these days a losing candidate is viewed as a permanent failure. So no second chance for Gore or Kerry, especially since they managed to run very close elections against a candidate that in theory should have been easy to beat soundly. I do think Edwards will run, but he won't win the nomination. Hopefully the Democratic nominee will, as I said before, be a governor from a non-Northeastern state.

czeskleba wrote:The first woman President and the first black President will probably have to be Republicans.

Apparently it won't be Rice.

Rice 'won't run' for US president

Condoleezza Rice has apparently ruled out a 2008 presidential bid, after only two months as US secretary of state.

Ms Rice is seen as the rising star of the Republican Party, and has been touted as successor to George W Bush.

She was repeatedly asked about her future on US TV shows this weekend.

"I have no intention. I don't want to run," she told NBC's Tim Russert on Meet the Press, adding finally: "I won't run."

Condi v Hillary?

Russert showed an unofficial website called Americans for Rice, which is soliciting donations to support a bid for the presidency.

It advertises bumper stickers and a song entitled "Condoleezza will lead us".

Commentators have been speculating on an all-female contest, with Ms Rice going head-to-head with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible challenger for the Democratic nomination.

"I won't. How's that? Is that categorical enough?" said Ms Rice after persistent questioning on the ABC channel.

Last month a survey in the US showed 81% of people would vote for a woman for president.

Of those questioned, 42% thought Ms Rice should run for the White House.

That compared to 53% who thought Mrs Clinton should stand.

'Candy fluff'

Many commentators say it is still too early to say whether Ms Rice will be a realistic candidate in 2008.

Larry Sabato, who directs the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told the AFP news agency that Mrs Clinton is a more solid bet.

"Hillary Clinton is certainly real - she's the most real candidate on the Democratic side so far," he said.

Talk of a Rice campaign, in contrast, "is cotton candy fluff generated by those of us who pine for the intense days of a presidential campaign that is still three years away".

lukpac wrote:Last month a survey in the US showed 81% of people would vote for a woman for president.

I guess I'm really out of touch with public sentiment, because I'd have guessed more like 41%. People seem to be OK with the idea of a woman running for president, but it seems hard to believe that many folks would actually vote for her.

"What if she menstruates all over some important legislation?"

Ryan

(credit to the Onion)

Let me guess - was that the "foreign guy" (IIRC, he's called "Asian Man" at the Onion)?

Don't remember.

Ryan