Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Hillary 08

Scott and Yglesias are right--if we are going to pick a moderate candidate in 2008, shouldn't he/she at least be get credit for being a moderate? If we want to pick someone that the Right thinks is a crazy liberal, let's pick Jon Corzine or Russ Feingold. If we want to pick someone who is a moderate, let's pick someone who does not have a false reputation as being on the left, someone like Bill Richardson, Evan Bayh, or John Edwards. Picking Hillary Clinton is the worst of both worlds--she's a moderate/conservative with a reputation on the Right as the second coming of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Like Scott, I don't think this means that Hillary can't win in 2008. But it does build in an inherent disadvantage. Plus I worry about a race between the more competent Bush and the less charismatic Clinton.