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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Have You Seen "Which Circle?" Yet

Just stumbled across this funny web comic that is worth keeping up with. The comic is basically a satire of the Campus Crusade for Christ organization. It is called "Which Circle?" and a portion of the latest strip is shown below (click on it to go to the full comic):




If you go here you can review all 21 of the "Which Circle?" comics.

Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship?

With Karl Rove moving on to the next chapter of his life, does this signal the start of the rats abandoning the sinking ship that is the lame duck portion of GWB's presidency? Or is it just Rove accepting the reality that he can no longer play war and cut taxes for the rich? I'm guessing Rover realizes that his friend (the president) has poll numbers stuck in the mud, is a lame duck, and has to work with Congress having a majority for the opposition - - and therefore nothing of consequence will happen in the final 17 months or so of the GWB administration.

A Mormon in the White House? Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll.

Republican Mitt Romney won the first test of the 2008 White House race on Saturday, using a big wallet and broad organization to muscle aside a field of second-tier rivals in a low-turnout Iowa straw poll.

Romney won 31 percent of the votes cast in the nonbinding mock election, a traditional early gauge of support in the state that holds the first nominating contest leading up to the November 2008 election.

Competing on a shoestring budget, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished a surprising second with 18 percent of the 14,302 votes cast -- a much smaller turnout than the approximately 24,000 who voted in the last Republican straw poll in 1999.

Romney was a heavy favorite after the other top three national Republican candidates -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson -- skipped the poll.

For the biggest losers, the results could mean a quick campaign exit. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who said he needed to finish in the top two to go on, came in sixth. With little money to continue, other laggards could face similar decisions.

Romney matched the 31 percent of the vote won by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in his 1999 straw poll victory on the road to the White House. He said his performance was not devalued by the absence of his top rivals or the low voter turnout in the sweltering heat.
"You've got to be successful in Iowa if you want to be president of the United States," said Romney, who leads state polls but trails Giuliani and the other top contenders nationally. "I'm still an underdog."

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Who knows what this could portend? A strong start for Romney in Iowa could help to propel him along and raise him above the current perception that Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson are the Republicans to beat.