Why John McCain and Hillary Clinton are winning the 2008 "buzz"

[papau]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05198/538812.stm

My Point: David M. Shribman / The odd coupl /[e-mail]

Why John McCain and Hillary Clinton are winning the 2008 presidential buzz sweepstakes
Sunday, July 17, 2005

Here are the two most prominent people in presidential politics three summers away from the national nominating conventions: A Republican who very likely can win the general election but likely can't win his own party's nomination. And a Democrat who very likely can win her party's nomination but likely can't win the general election.

<snip>The Democrats, once the party of daring and conviction, now are the party of dithering and doubts. Their most successful figure of the past generation, Bill Clinton, was a centrist who worried about the bond market and signed a welfare bill that Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan, the architect of the Nixon welfare philosophy, deplored as punitive and heartless. The party that once rang the bell of freedom now reflexively wrings its hands over its own problems and its own lack of identity.

<snip>George W. Bush, so tentative and unsure as a presidential candidate in 2000, is the defining political figure of the times, so much so that the Democrats seem to exist merely to assert their hatred of him. The Republicans are so in his thrall and control that no logical successor figure has emerged. (The natural contrast is how Al Gore was always regarded as the logical successor to Clinton. Dick Cheney's disavowal of presidential hopes deny the Republicans the kind of choice they like to make: grabbing the next senior statesman.)

<snip>This analysis underscores the critical role that conservatives now play in our politics. They stand athwart McCain's road to the nomination and athwart Clinton's road to the White House. It is a position, and a power, liberals have seldom possessed.

That said, McCain and Clinton still retain the whip hand in the nomination fights. They're the best-known, and are likely to be the best-funded, presidential aspirants in a still-forming field. They're the man and woman to beat.<snip>

[lvx35]

1. I'm glad the media has picked Clinton for us in 2008

I'm just not so sure that we the party acutally agree with them.

[papau]

2. 2008 is sadly a long time from now - but I thought it an interesting note

:-(

[lvx35]

3. It is interesting!

:) It shows the buzz levels are already picking up, which means people are very concerned!

[Larkspur]

4. I won't support Hillary

[papau]

6. So directly or indirectly by not voting or supporting Green you'd support

the GOP in 2008?

Or do you mean in the Dem primary?

[Larkspur]

7. I won't vote for Hillary in the primaries and I won't donate time or money

to her campaign. If she wins the primaries, I don't know if I'll vote for her. I live in CT which went to Kerry with 10%, so I have the luxury of not voting Dem for Prez in 2008 if I don't like the Dem candidate.

[papau]

8. Fair enough :-)

:-)

[Mr. McD]

5. Hillary on the Right

http://progressive.org/?q=mag_wx071505

Hillary? No thanks.