Is there a viable female alternative to Sen Clinton?

[Stinky The Clown]

It seems to me that most of the objections to Sen Clinton have to do with issues, and not gender (although, for a few, gender may be the overriding issue).

If we assume the country is ready for a woman to be president (I think it is), who might be a viable alternative? I'm sure one name will come up for sure, and that would be Barbra Boxer. But, much as I like and respect her, I can't see her winning a national race, particularly given the state of the nation today. (Now, before you flame me for that statement, it is simply my opinion of her **electability**, not a statement of her inability or un-suitableness to serve in that capacity; I think, if she could be elected, she'd be a great president.)

So who do you think is the non Hillary?

[blm]

1. Janet Napolitano or Kathleen Sebelius, I imagine.

I'd vote for nsma in a heartbeat.

[Infinite Hope]

2. Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas Gov). Some also say Napolitano (Arizona Gov). n/t

[AndyTiedye]

3. Hell Yes! Pelosi in '07!

[kimmerspixelated]

4. BARBIE BOXER!

I also like the spunk of that election detective lady- Brazille?

[MoJoWorkin]

7. I agree, Boxer!!! n/t

[mike_c]

11. yeah Barbara! Another Boxer fan here....

:woohoo:

[PassingFair]

30. Boxer works for me, too.

Also Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.

LOVE her!

[roamer65]

34. I'd go for Boxer.

[Ken Burch]

40. "BARBIE BOXER"?

Now available in stores?

[pscot]

5. Scarlett Johanson

Not sure she's really interested in the job, though.

[Ignacio Upton]

36. She'll only be 24 in 2008

And what qualifies her to be President other than...the fact that she's damn fine lookin'.:D

[longship]

6. Sebelius, and many other possibles.

Consider the House of Representatives. There are lots of women there.

Tubbs-Jones, anybody?

[Stinky The Clown]

8. If you're going to proffer Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, I'll see that and raise you a

Sheila Jackson Lee, who I think out gravitases the most gravitas-rich people anyone can name.

(Can 'gravitas' be made a verb?? :) )

[Crunchy Frog]

9. I don't see what the problem would be with Barbara Boxer.

I think she comes off as far more principled than Hillary, and I don't think she's anything like as polarizing. I think she would be an excellent president.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. My statement was not to say there's anything fundamentally *wrong* with her .....

.... it is just my own gut feeling inspired view that she couldn't win on the national stage.

I agree that she's less polarizing than Sen Clinton, and, as you say, far more principled. That said, I still feel like she couldn't win ... sad to say. But again, its just my own personal gut feeling.

[Crunchy Frog]

12. I really don't see it. I like her chances alot more than those

of alot of other people being discussed. Actually, a Clark/Boxer ticket would be my dream ticket.:)

[Stinky The Clown]

13. As I said ..... it is simply my own, personal, unfounded, gut opinion.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Well, I can't argue with that.

:)

[paulk]

16. the problem with Boxer is that's she's too liberal

to win a national election. She'd get painted as a left coast liberal, and it would even be true.

It's actually the same problem HRC has - HRC is, at least in the eyes of many moderates of both parties, not to mention Independent voters, too liberal.

[Ken Burch]

42. The way you fight the "too liberal" thing

Is to have a progressive candidate who strongly defends her principles, responds immeidiately and decisively to slurs and attacks, and doesn't back down under pressure.

That's why centrists backed Reagan. They said"we don't agree with everything he says, but by God you know what he stands for". That and organization, enthusiasm, and a massive GOTV effort.

If it worked for the right. It can work for us.

We don't need to repent to win.

[roamer65]

35. I want a liberal as president.

Give me Gore, Boxer or Kucinich.

[Beaverhausen]

15. It's too bad Jennifer Granholm can't run- she rocks

and she's a looker (not that I care but in this day and age it couldn't hurt)

She was born in Canada so she can't run. Darn.

[politicasista]

32. I like her too

I wish she and Boxer could run.

[paulk]

17. most of the objections to HRC on "issues" come from, at

least among Democrats of a leftwing bent, a real ignorance of where HRC actually stands on a lot of those issues. Her main problem in a general election will not be what most on DU think - that she is too much a centrist or moderate, but, instead, that she is a northeastern liberal, which won't play well in the south, midwest, or mountainwest. She'll have the same hill to climb as Kerry did in that respect.

There are several qualified women who don't have that liability that have been mentioned in this thread. It's hard to see how they could ever get elected - they don't have the name recognition that, for instance, HRC does - and for a woman to even be considered in this country that would seem to me to be a major requirement.

[Morgana LaFey]

29. you mean ignorance of what position she's switched to???

that would be more accurate.

[paulk]

31. name some

what votes of her's do you, for instance, find that she "switched" on. Was it the vote against CAFTA? Did she switch from her previous support of free trade, her support of NAFTA (which she never voted on, but that doesn't stop the hate hillary krew from endlessly claiming she did), into a position that questions such agreements?

Are there others? Shall we dredge up another discussion about the IWR, an issue that no one outside of the shrill confines of DU no one actually cares much about?

What?

[martymar64]

43. She was and still is pro-war

That's all I need to know. I have family and friends in Iraq and Afganistan. Hillary's hands have blood on them. Pro-war candidates are a non-starter for me, period.

[paulk]

50. sigh...

I am so sick of this shit.

Hillary Clinton is not "pro-war".

"Hillary's hands have blood on them"

How can one argue with your kind of self righteous ignorance?

I don't have the time anymore for people like you.

I'm putting you on ignore.

[BlueIris]

18. Boxer. Gosh, I love her. nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

21. So do I

I know we need her as the replacement to James Inhofe as the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee right now, but I'd vote for her if she ran for president.

[Pushed To The Left]

19. Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer might be possibilities

Pelosi is going to be in the spotlight as the Speaker of the House. Boxer got the third greatest number of votes in California behind Bush and Kerry.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. My take on Nancy Pelosi .......

First off, I am her number one fan. I think she hung the moon. The cat's pajamas. Savy and shrewd. Grossly UNDERestimated.

But here's the thing. She has no name ID and now that she's to be Speaker, the slime guns are spewing all over her. That's the stage as set were she to run in 08. By the time she's done with her first term as speaker, I suspect many will see in her what I see in her. But by then it will be too late .... too late for an 08 run and too late, chronologically .... she's 67 years old. Assuming she doesn't run in 08, but does in '12, she'll be 74.

She either runs now (and likely gets blown out of the water) or she waits, effectively reducing her chances to nil due to age.

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

20. This is so easy...

Barbie Boxer :woohoo:

[sofa king]

23. How about Maria Cantwell?

Although she too carries the Curse of the Senate (meaning her record is easy to pick apart and misrepresent, as the Republicans did with both Al Gore and John Kerry), she seems pretty solid on the issues I most care about.

[martymar64]

44. Patty Murray would be better.

The other WA Senator.

[liberalpragmatist]

24. Kathleen Sebelius

Governor of Kansas, just reelected in a landslide. She's not running, though.

Janet Napolitano might be another, but she's unmarried. I hate to sound petty, but that would be a big handicap in a national race, especially since there are already whispers that because she's unmarried, she must be... GASP... a lesbian. :eyes:

[Ken Burch]

47. Napolitano's ok, but she was better when she was still with Concrete Blonde

:headbang:

[election_2004]

25. Sebelius will make the V.P. short list...

...and possibly even be offered the #2 spot on the ticket, if Clark or Bayh is nominated.

[elsiesummers]

26. Future candidate idea: McCaskill?

Hillary bothers me as a candidate - not because she has become macho in order to move to the center and make herself forceful enough to be a woman candidate(I still think she is a liberal like me) but because she is looking old and has a grating voice and shouts too much at rallies.

And I just voted for her.

I know nothing of McCaskill, but I was impressed with her victory speech during the late night count of the 2006 elections. She was rousing, her husband looked just right, and she managed to seem both forceful and feminine.

The Ford concession speech was fantastic and moving and he was a truely great candidate. I'm so disappointed that he is not in office. Whenever the candidate show's great potential, the GOP manages to nip them in the bud (think of Cisneros).

I guess these two, McCaskill and Ford are what I want to see in minority candidates (women or people of color). They both have charm.

Hillary doesn't measure up against Boxer or Pelosi, either, in my opinion, in terms of style, although Pelosi's smile and brow are a bit too artificial, in terms of styling, in my opinion. But better a pasted on smile than a snarl, or a frown.

As for issues - I'm not an IWR stickler and, with the exception of some of Hillary's moderation of her pro-choice vocabulary, Hillary is fine by me. I just think she is a lousy presidential candidate.

[LWolf]

27. Boxer. n/t

[kentuck]

28. Hillary is the best chance for a woman President...

If the time is right for a woman to be President, then Hillary is the person. She should not be discounted so quickly, in my opinion.

[Comicstripper]

33. No "viable" candidates...

because "viable" at this point would entail some sort of campaign groundwork already.

But Sebelius is certainly competent. McCaskill could potentially have a future in national office if she wanted one. Kay Bailey Hutchinson is occasionally touted (often as a Veep should Hillary be nominated), but I assume you meant Democrats.

[SaveElmer]

37. No...not in 2008 certainly...

In terms of ability and electibility there certainly are...Kathleen Sibelius leaps to mind...

But no one else would be able to marshall the resources necessary at this late date to make a serious run...

IMO Hillary is not only the most viable woman candidate, she is among t he most viable candidates period!!!

[Ken Burch]

38. If Boxer was elected, she'd have to give up her Senate seat

And Conan the Republican would get to appoint her successor, unless California has taken that privelege away from the governor as we did in Alaska.

[Ken Burch]

39. I'd like to suggest a long-shot possibility, simply for her courage and oratorical stature:

the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

[Little Star]

41. Now your talkin'!!!! I love her!!!!!

[Stinky The Clown]

45. I mentioned her upthread ...... see post #8

[Ken Burch]

46. Well, take my post as support for yours, then.

n/t.

[rman]

48. Gender is not an issue - period

There's no reason why the candidate should be female.

[ooga booga]

49. I disagree. Gender shouldn't be an issue, but it is.

We'll have to work our way past the novelty of having a female President. Once we finally get one, the novelty will start to fade away. I mean if the Brits got another female PM it's just not such a big deal because they've already HAD Thatcher. The novelty factor is just not there.

As for governors like Kansas' Sibelius, you should check presidential election history. Jimmy Carter wasn't known very well two years before the 1976 election. In 1992, Bill Clinton wasn't known all that well either. I remember that Carter had a legion of Georgians descend on Texas -- all ready to talk about "My friend, Jimmy Carter..." Carter had a good ground game and he won. In fact, 1976 was the LAST time the Democrat carried Texas.

I think Barbara Boxer would be a GREAT Democratic nominee and I think she'd surprise a lot of people. Her electability is a big issue, but, given that Hillary also has a huge electability issue, I'd rather take my chances with Boxer rather than Clinton.

I want a Democrat in the White House in 2009. Period. I'd rather not add the gender issue into the mix in 2008. If an electable nominee happens to be a woman, I'm on board, but, right now, Hillary is the only woman likely to run, and she scares the living daylights out of me.

[election_2004]

51. I love your screen name, btw

:)