In a move that comes as a surprise to many, Senator Hillary Clinton has announced she will indeed seek the Dem
ocratic nomination for President of the United States. She broke ranks with other members, including Senator Brownback (R-Kansas) who also announced today by announcing she was running on her website. The former First Lady between 1993 and 2001 made history when she became the first and to date only former First Lady to be elected to office and is making history once again as being the only former First Lady to seek the nation's top job. She is also making history by becoming the first woman to be considered a front runner for the nomination, which leads the way in a historic election period where a hispanic, black and a woman are considered top contenders.Like all good candidates for office, she began her campaign for 2008 years before by insisting that she simply would not seek the office. Any good political candidate knows that if you refuse, the media and the people are even more inclined to seek you elected. Congressman Ted Strickland (D-OH) said he would not run for the chief executive post in Ohio, but he was sworn in as Ohio's governor a short time ago. Although she is not the only smart candidate to do this, as Barack Obama (D-IL) also declined to say whether or not he would run and allowed the media to do most of the work before later confirming he would seek the nomination. Clintons have always had a love affair with the press and it might very well play in her favor come the primaries.
Hillary Clinton for President doesn't sound very appealing to many people on the right. In fact, it might be their worst possible outcome in 2008 aside from Dennis Kucinich. However, polls show Hillary is the only candidate to date who has the ability to poll within decent numbers of candidates like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. Although many (and quite accurately) claim Hillary is a polarizing figure, they simply cannot refute the numbers when it comes down to 2008. Part of the appeal of Obama to many Democrats and moderates alike is his seeming ability to pull moderates towards him. However, the numbers are showing Hillary can do the same.
Ultimately, no matter who decides to make clear they will or will not run makes little difference until 2008. The primaries are more than a year away and if candidates cannot stay in the media's eye and raise upwards of 100 million dollars by the end of the year, they'll likely fall away from the race. American politics is made of money and without it, there is little chance any candidate will succeed. Time and money will make this campaign very interesting.
1 comments:
Excellent analysis Curtis, especially with the media doing all the work. Unfortunately for Hilary, the media have done the opposite. Claiming she's the front-runner has meant that she's the target for all other Dems and that she has to meet the high expectations a front runner has. Needless to say, if you've heard her speak she isn't of the calibre the media have created, which is why her polls have slumped of late. Interesting though that she has announced right after Obama had, seems to me she's trying to keep momentum with her campaign and away from his. Interesting times, on both sides of the aisle.
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