Clinton is far from 'inevitable'

[babylonsister]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/05/clinton_is_far_from_inevitable/

Clinton is far from 'inevitable'

By Scot Lehigh | October 5, 2007

PREPARING TO leave Iowa just before the 2004 caucuses, I picked up the national newsweeklies to read on the plane. One story in particular caught my eye: a cover piece on Howard Dean that, in exploring how he might match up against George W. Bush and speculating about possible VP choices, conveyed the unmistakable impression that the good doctor had the Democratic nomination pretty much wrapped up.

There's a lesson there at a time when some pundits and prognosticators (and even presidents) are starting to view Hillary Clinton as a formidable force on a glide path to the 2008 Democratic nod.

Certainly Clinton has good reason to be pleased with her recent progress. Her healthcare plan played to strong reviews, her latest fund-raising total bested Barack Obama's, and a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows her not just with a large lead over her Democratic rivals, but also beating Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani by eight points.

Further, the profusion of primary contests slated for Feb. 5 should impart a real advantage to a well-financed front-runner - as long as she emerges from the first few contests intact, that is.

But if Clinton is in an enviable position, she is far from inevitable.

Just ask Gary Hart.

"I went through the same kind of experience in the fall of 1983 with Vice President Mondale," recalls the erstwhile Colorado senator.

more...

[sniffa]

1. pfft!! do i need to show you a poLL?

i read that piece this morn.

k&r

[babylonsister]

6. Please don't!

:D

[saltpoint]

2. This fall is going to be a Fun House of shifts and shake-ups. We'll lose some

candidates and possibly gain some, too.

After the last holiday party is over in late December or early January, we'll have a notion, but not a confirmed certainty, of who's still in the thick of things -- and that's only for the moment at hand going into the Iowa caucus.

Robert Kennedy entered the 1968 primary field in March of 68 and did just fine in the primaries from that point forward, winning disparate venues like Indiana and California.

Good post, babylonsister.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Robert Kennedy Was Sui Generis

eom

[Tellurian]

4. So is Hillary..

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson ...

[saltpoint]

9. Hi, DemocratSinceBirth. Yes. If it's possible to be homesick for a

person I'm homesick for him.

He could make people feel like they were citizens.

And that's not an inconsequential thing.

[cali]

5. I agree. It's absurd to talk about inevitability at

this time.

[leveymg]

7. There are about a half-dozen people here who repeat that meme. 24/7.

Dr. Goebbels first rule: repeat a Big Lie often enough and the audience won't notice a host of little ones.

[Yael]

8. One thing about democrats

is that we don't like people to tell us what to think -- we have a tendency to want to weigh the evidence and make up our own minds. The more the MSM tells me that Hillary is my candidate for the general, the more I want to promote Edwards.

:hi: