Barack Obama backed off earlier statements he had made about having no interest in seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, stating that “that was how I was thinking at that time … Given the response I’ve been getting the last several months, I have thought about the possibility … After November 7, I’ll sit down and consider it.”
I’m finding it ever more likely that Obama will be on the ticket in one way or another.? His extreme liberal voting record will not garner him many independent votes, but the Republican Party must not underestimate his enthusiastic, fresh face and rockstar appeal.? If the Republicans want to counteract this, they will want to have someone with a good amount of celebrity appeal on their ticket as well.? But, having Obama on the Democratic ticket will virtually ensure that any Republican ticket with the slighest appeal to moderate voters will sweep the electoral college.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:38 pm
This is hardly surprising, I had expected him to make this annoucement for several months now. It is interesting to note that during the Al Gore boomlet of this past spring, Gore went to great lengths to deny that he had any intention of running and eventually the hype died down. Yet now Obama is on record as at least considering running and that will only cause his support to grow. Given his lack of nation security experience, I just don’t see how he could win the general (he could probably win the nomination), especially if he goes against McCain or Giuliani. The country always goes with someone they can trust and who knows the world when we’re at war.
For that reason, and I’m sure Obama recognizes it, I think he’s actively auditioning for the Veep slot. I think a Clinton/Obama ticket would be quite beneficial to both of them. It would help shore of liberal support for Hillary that’s been waning over the months (the enitre Obama boomlet has come about because the Dems just aren’t energized but Hillary at all) and it gives Obama invaluable executive experience.
As an aside, I keep hearing rumors that Hillary ultimately won’t run (most recently by John Harwood of the WSJ on Sunday’s MTP) and that Gore actually will (in yesterday’s Robert Novak column). Has anyone heard anything more about this? There have been consistent rumors that Hillary will forego 2008 for the majority leader position, which Harry Reid has offered her if she doesn’t run. That’s plausible, but I just don’t see how she doesn’t run after raising so much money and establishing a huge staff (but then again, I never predicted that Mark Warner would drop out).
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Wow! Speaking of Hillary, in a shocking new CNN poll, it has her beating John McCain by 7 points (51-44) when she uses Rodham, yet loses to him by one point (48-47) if she doesn’t use her middle name. And as far as I know, it’s the first 2008 poll showing him trailing Hillary. Given that Hillary’s numbers swing so wildly because of her middle name, it’s very hard to tell what her real numbers are. Since the numbers are so different from the previous Hillary vs. McCain polls we’ve seen over the months, this feels like an outlier.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/20/poll.08/index.html
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Wha?? That poll also has Rudy Giuliani losing to Clinton either way. Something’s not right with that poll. What methods did they use? Why would Rudy and McCain take such a steep dive in the general election polls in the last month?
It says they only polled 500 respondents, when most polls usually ask about 1000 respondents, so maybe it’s just a MoE glitch.
October 23rd, 2006 at 9:16 pm
[...] I just have to weigh in on all of this Obama ‘08 nonsense (HT: Woody). The MSM seems to be salivating over a run by the first-term Illinois senator.  This is likely due to the hunger on the Left for an Anti-Hillary. There’s a very good chance that the Democrats will control the Senate in 2009 (more on this later) regardless of what happens this year. And if the Dems win a large enough majority in the House this year, they can probably hold it until the next reapportionment after the 2010 census in 2012. That means a Democratic president elected in 2008 has a very good chance right now of governing alongside two Democratic houses of Congress, at least for a couple of years. This, of course, would make the quasi-socialist relics that staff the upper echelons of the MSM positively giddy, as it would be their best hope for Bush’s Churchill to be followed by an American version of Attlee, the PM who completely socialized Britain following WWII. [...]
November 2nd, 2006 at 3:39 am
Dave
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November 20th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Norfolk
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