Bill Clinton Urged to Run for Governor of California (U.S. News & WR)

[redacted]

(According to Ray Taliaferro of KGO radio in San Francisco, Democratic Party insiders have known for the past month that Bill Clinton has been quietly considering a run for governor of California. Actor Warren Beatty, who gave the keynote address at the California Nurses Association convention yesterday, is also considering a bid, says Taliaferro.)

From U.S News & World Report:

Are Arnold's Woes Clinton's Gain?

Teased by his plummeting polls, California Democrats are putting out an APB for a candidate who can take on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger . But small-time pols need not apply. We hear that major donors are reaching out to former President Bill Clinton , once governor of Arkansas, to run. "On first blush, it might sound nuts," says a prominent Democratic strategist. "But he'd be governor of the fourth-largest economy in the world and have the ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Hillary " if she ran for president, he said. Also on the wish list: ex-Lakers star Magic Johnson , San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and activist actor Rob Reiner of All in the Family fame. Imagine a "Meathead vs. Terminator" race in 2006.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/050912/12whisplead.htm

[Rainscents]

1. Oh Boy, this is interesting! He'll blow Arnie out of the office!

[mattclearing]

11. Not if Monica gets there first.

:D

[Rainscents]

25. LOL...

:hi:

[Deep13]

2. Um, doesn't Big Dog live in NY state?

[Rainscents]

3. Well, hell, he can buy small house there.

[Deep13]

6. But Sen. Clinton has to live in NY.

Do you really think they would anounce they have split up just to be governor? Would H.C. want to risk that stigma in '08?

[Book Lover]

10. Split up? What on earth for?

It costs around $300 for a peon-class round-trip plane ticket from Oakland to JFK. That's pocket change to these people...

[Deep13]

14. It's very simple...

... to be Senator, HC must maintain her official residence in NY state. To be governator, BC must have his official residence in CA. Officially, they would live on opposite sides of the country. So are they split-up or does one of them admit to lying on the application? Which one will admit to being a carpet bagger?

Locally, each might be able to get away with it, but middle America will not tolerate it for a presidential run, especially by a woman.

[Book Lover]

19. The third option is two homes

And that is not that out there. "The rich are different from you and me" is an accepted canard in the US.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. Don't forget the tax cuts

[praisethelowered]

8. he can HAVE my house if he runs

[Deep13]

9. That reminds me of something from the '04 race.

I had a ready made answer for Kerry detractors.

Q: Would you vote for Kerry if you knew he was going to raise your taxes?

A: I'd vote for him if I knew he was going to burn my house down.

[Yogi]

20. Good one,

thanks lol ;)

[barb162]

31. love that comment

[Book Lover]

5. As if politicians care about things like residency requirements

Look, I would love to have Bill run for governor here simply because he would win, but it pisses me off that the states are nothing more than a Stratego map to the political class. Oh well, one more item on the Revolution agenda...

[wakeme2008]

7. A lot would have to do with Ca rules and how long you have to

live there.

[Rainscents]

23. I think 6 months.

[mshasta]

4. that blows my mind!!!

just by thinking about it!!!:toast:

[DrDan]

12. What a GREAT IDEA!!!!!

Man - can you hear InSanity now!!!! Or The-Dick-Morris!!!!

[Kadie]

13. My husband heard this yesterday on Ray T's show.

I couldn't find any info yesterday. Thanks for posting.

[redacted]

38. Kadie, you're welcome

Wanted to post it sooner but was trying to get family out of Houston. Now that it looks like they're hunkering down tomorrow night in a walk-in closet with two dogs and an AM/FM Walkman, I guess it's back to them Internets. KGO has a really good commercial-free MP3 stream that plays well in iTunes.

[AX10]

15. It would certainly lock the GOP out of Cali.

[redacted]

44. Lock 'em out for 8 years, and hopefully for good!

[gatorboy]

16. Clinton's fine but enough with the celebrities!

Haven't we had enough of that already?

[0rganism]

17. Maybe he should've run for mayor of NYC?

I dunno. Just seems like the CA governorship needs to be the birthplace of new left politics, not the end zone for a politician who's already reached his peak.

[madokie]

21. What makes Clinton attractive to Californian's

is the fact he is fiscally responsible and who needs that now more than ever.

[0rganism]

24. If Bill Clinton is the only Dem with "fiscally responsible" credibility...

...then the entire Democratic party leadership in CA needs to disband and start over. IMHO, of course.

[DURHAM D]

18. That's crap planted by Arnold's supporters - carpetbagging

claims come next.

[Pepperbelly]

28. Isn't Arnie the ultimate carpetbagger already? nt

[Bucky]

30. Nah. He's lived in California for many years.

I think there's plenty to attack in Shwarzenneggar's performance without resorting to immigrant bashing.

[Pepperbelly]

46. live by the sword and all that, you know. nt

[huskerlaw]

22. I volunteer

the use of my home address to establish residency. ;) California Governor Clinton would be absolutely fabulous.

[redacted]

26. Yep, I volunteer too!

[Cleita]

27. I would vote for him.

Even though he's Repuke lite, he can pull together this state because it really is almost a country.

[Bucky]

29. Here's a nutty idea: have an actual California politician run for Guv.

Villaraigosa has already said he won't run since he just started the job. Newsom hasn't been in officer very much longer than Villaraigosa. But the Clinton thing is just flaky--yes, even flakier than Reiner or Beatty running. I would hope Californians have figured out by now that actors make crappy governors.

Earvin Johnson at least has practical business experience outside of show biz. That's the only serious suggestion on the list. But I wonder if, after the Katrina-Brown debacle and the Shwarzenneggar-everything-he-touches debacle, maybe the voters might want to support someone with actually job experience.

[Cleita]

32. How about Bill Clinton has a lot of experience and

he's a better movie star than Arnold, Warren and the rest of them. We had an experienced Governor in Davis but I guess he didn't have the movie star quality, so I guess I will go for Bill so all the starry eyed voters might vote for him too.

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Can he do that??

[hedda_foil]

35. Now THAT is a fantastic idea!

I'm not a big fan of his neoliberalist tendencides, but he knows how to govern and he can keep CA blue! Anyway, he's probably thinking that if Hilary wins he won't want to be the first lady. CA would keep him busy and they could see each other every few weekends just like they do now.

[goclark]

36. He can live in my house! Run Run, Run Bill!

[never_get_over_it]

37. This is without a doubt

the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. You don't go from being President to being Governor -

Bill Clinton could do a lot more good by being a NATIONAL political leader and doing what he did last Sunday on one of those Sunday morning shows

I don't like the carpet bagger thing either - and there is no way around it - if he's Governor on one coast and she is Senator on the other they can no longer make believable that they have any kind of marriage what so ever.

There has to be a Californian Dem with enough talent to beat Arnold his poll numbers are in the toilet

[Disturbed]

40. Bill should run for Gov. of NY.

That would make more sense.

[never_get_over_it]

43. Well that would be better

but to me it just feels completely stupid to go from being President to Governor - he should retire from elected office and serve his country in other ways...IMHO

edited to change politics to elected office - he shouldn't retire from politics - but from elected office

[Up2Late]

39. I wish he would run for U.S. Senate

Just the augments over what the other Senators had to call him would be worth it.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

41. That would be great, but...

seems unlikely. I sure would like to see Newsom give it a shot.

[uncertainty1999]

42. please, please, please let it be true!! n/t

[fujiyama]

45. I'd move to CA to vote for him

I never had a chance to vote for him because I was too young.

He has disappointed me at times and pissed me off as well, but he'd win in a walk. It'd shut the repukes out of the CA governor's position for years to come.

And well, both parties have mismanaged the state to some extent. When it comes to fiscal responsibility, I trust Clinton more than many others.

[Clark2008]

47. Why don't we get him to run in a red-state?

I'm sure after the disaster that is the Governator, the deep blue of California will come out to support most ANY Democrat who runs against him.

However, there are some red states who voted for Clinton in '92 and '96 that could benefit from his leadership.

How 'bout Gov. Clinton of Georgia or Gov. Clinton of Arizona?

You get where I'm going with this...

[arcos]

48. Newsom should challenge Feinstein.... nt