Reply #93: Good point [View All]

[Awsi Dooger]

I tend to look at elections from a standpoint of likely victory based on situational influence, not issues that may drive a candidate to enter or abstain.

2004 was an underdog cycle for a Democrat. That's how I would have labeled it first and foremost, then based my decisions off of that reality.

I prioritize astute handicapping and the Clintons have shown it. Bill ran in '92, when the GOP had held the White House for 3 straight terms, unprecedented since FDR and Truman. The country was ready for a change. Now Hillary is similarly running in a favorable landscape. I don't think it's a coincidence.

Bland has nothing to do with resume. Ousting an incumbent in a presidential election has very little to do with resume. That was my argument on DU and elsewhere in 2004 and earlier. We needed someone with pull, a naturally likable nominee. I thought Edwards came closest so I supported him beginning in late 2002, even when he was almost invisible on DU.