Without Obama, would Hillary be battling Edwards?

[sharesunited]

How much of the divide in the party is just an anti-Hillary sentiment which needed to coalesce around *someone* / *anyone* ?

[Nitrogenica]

1. Would she use the haircut smear?

[anonymous171]

2. Yes she would.

[dkf]

6. I thought she did already.

[LakeSamish706]

3. As I said in a post yesterday if it were a race between almost any other candidate...

than Hillary, one of the candidates would have bowed out gracefully by now. Neither Edwards or Obama would be taking it to this level... Just would not happen because they care about the Democratic party to much.

Edited to say:

I missread your post.. And will say that yes she would.. It just happens to be Obama, but could just as easily be any of the others.

[cali]

4. maybe. or maybe she would have long been the nominee.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Yes, and it would have been the black vote that put it away for her

Edwards never would have been able to compete with the the Clintons for black votes; he would have been done by Feb. 5.

[Cleita]

7. Why don't blacks like Edwards?

He's the candidate that addresses poverty and the working class. It seems they would be more inclined to back him that Hi$$ary, the corporate queen.

[BeyondGeography]

9. They used to like Bill

which is why she was getting most of the black vote in polling before Obama won Iowa. No Obama and those numbers never would have moved to Edwards as the Clintons were a known quantity compared with him.

[IsItJustMe]

8. Edwards would now be proverbially kicking Hillary's ass and the corporate msm would be going after

him as well. Corps don't like to hear the populous message.

[nsd]

10. I don't think so.

For one thing, if Obama hadn't run, one or more other people (Bayh, Warner, Vilsack) might have joined the race. They were scared off in part because it was clear that, with two Democratic "superstar" candidates already in, fundraising would have been very tough.

But even if Obama's absence hadn't induced somebody else to announce, I really don't think Edwards could have pulled it off. He didn't have Obama's organization or his celebrity status; he didn't have Obama's money; he didn't have anything like the base support that Obama did among young people and African-Americans; and he didn't have quite the appeal to independents. I suspect Edwards would have emerged after Iowa as Clinton's chief opponent but he would have been pushed out of the race on Super Tuesday (Feb. 5).

It's actually really remarkable that Obama was able to outmanuever Clinton. Very few candidates could have done it given the advantages she had, IMHO. Maybe only Al Gore.

[sharesunited]

12. I tend to agree with you. Obama is not just a vessel of DNC discontent.

He is the real deal bound to shake up the status quo throughout the political establishment.

Accordingly, everything is being thrown at him from every direction in order to try to bury the threat he represents.

[pettypace]

11. Knowing what we know now

Edwards would easily take all of Obama's voters, plus he would grab those supposed middle class whites in PA and OH, and would be beating Hillary by 50 points.

In other words, if you could exchange Edwards for Obama for the last month. Its really a "anyone but Hillary" sentiment.

[Adelante]

15. Edwards was never getting blue collar whites

When he was still in the race, Hillary was taking that vote. That may be why he dropped out.

[tritsofme]

20. No chance in hell Edwards would be getting 90% of the black vote.

The base support of the Clintons has been incredibly stable over many years, and its doubtful a candidate as weak as Edwards would have peeled them off.

[Armstead]

13. It;s a bigger divide than Hillary

It's the DLC/Corporate/Neo-Liberal (Economically Conservative) wing versus the more Liberal/Progressive/Populist wing.

Hillary as one of the main movers of the DLC Wing has become the standard bearer of the Neo-Liberal (Conservative) wing. Edwards and Obama -- while not fire-breathing progressives-- are more aligned with the populist wing.

The Clinton;s are political chamelions, so Hillary is successfully portraying herself as a populist -- just as her husband did in 92. But in the bigger context, she represents the brand of Democrat that has thrown "the left" under the bus for all these years.

So, yes, there is an anti-Hillary sentiment, but it is based on something much deeper.

[dansolo]

14. No. Edwards would have dropped out by now

I just don't see Edwards inspiring people like Obama does. If it was between him and Hillary, she would have wrapped up the nomination a long time ago. There is no way that he would have raised the kind of money that Obama has.

[kwenu]

16. She would be battling Edwards and she would be losing to him too.

[progdog]

17. Give me a break.

I'm a sixty year old white woman and I used to like Hillary. I am just sick of the vacuous crap that has been thrown around for years to win and election. It's time to stop the game. If she can't win on her positive attributes, which are difficult to locate lately, then she doesn't deserve to win. Sorry. It's time for real change before it's to late. It's the kind of garbage that gave us "W".

[tritsofme]

18. She would have dusted the floor with Edwards and it would have been over by 2/5

Which was the original Clinton plan, as we all know.

Obama is a unique and particularly strong candidate, much stronger than Edwards, and that is why this process has gone on as long as it has.

[SoCalDem]

19. She owul dhave wrapped it up mid Feb.. THAT's why she's gone nutso on Obama

:rofl: