Saturday, August 18, 2007

Hillary Clinton: The Next Ronald Reagan?

If the polls are accurate, then for only the second time in 30 years are the most loyal partisans in the Out-of-Power political party and their most partisan opponents in the In-Power party backing the same candidate to be the next presidential nominee of the Out-of-Power party.

Three decades ago, the first choice of then-out-of-office Republicans was the conservative champion from California, Ronald Reagan. Democrats of that era were nervous about Jimmy Carter, their embattled incumbent, facing Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker or even former U.N. Ambassador George H.W. Bush.

But Democrats were positive that American voters would reject a far-right, 69-year-old, ex-movie actor with, what former President Ford had called, "prematurely orange hair." Reagan carried 44 states in 1980.

Today, it is Republicans who are publicly salivating over the prospect of running against the Democrats' front-runner, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Some see her candidacy motivating conservatives to vote in record numbers, guaranteeing GOP retention of the White House and Congress. Others see themselves becoming wealthy tapping the nervous checkbooks of donors who view the Clintons as proof of the impending Apocalypse. Very few even see the remote possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Like 1978 Democrats, 2005 Republicans may be making the serious mistake of talking only to people who agree with them. That is the warning sounded by some wise, battle-scarred Republican veterans of GOP presidential politics, who take a Hillary Clinton candidacy very seriously indeed.

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5 comments:

BAWDYSCOT said...

csm, just as an aside, how do you think the blog is going? Are you happy with the posting activity level? At times I rue we don't have a Gene or a Mike to verbally joust with(fcc was another story). Everybody on the same page of the same book with the same opinion...I don't know, maybe I am pining for the ol' Freethinker....

csm said...

I tend to agree with you Bawdy. Disagreement can foster some good conversation and it gets people riled up enough to keep looking back in to see what that crazy person (people?) who disagrees with me said so I can correct him or her...

That said, I am pleased that some of the regulars continue to show up and I hope that continues. At least we can keep up a little community of like-minded individuals (even if we don't agree with each other 100% of the time). I'd truly hate to lose touch with you and derF and ceroill and jan/bev and heathen (wonder where TFPOMA went?)

Ceroill said...

Thanks csm! Nice to feel part of a group of friends. I haven't checked in with Freethinker in a few weeks. Want me to take a peek?

csm said...

When I last checked into the Freethinker's site the only new stuff was spam.

csm said...

On Augst 28th Hillary picked up the support of the 125,000-member United Transportation Union.

I think she is picking up steam and continuing to put space between herself and the other hopefuls. Fidel Castro is probably right, the Democrats will likely be sporting a Clinton/Obama ticket in 2008.