Friends of Hillary hint she may pull out of presidential race

[Herman Munster]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2340352,00.html

FRIENDS of Hillary Clinton have been whispering the unthinkable. Despite her status as the runaway frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, some of her closest advisers say she might opt out of the White House race and seek to lead her party in the Senate.

The former first lady longs to return to the White House with husband Bill as consort. Only last week she told television viewers America would be led by a woman one day. “Stay tuned,” she said.

First, however, she has to win the election. Some Democratic party elders — the American equivalent of the Tories’ “men in grey suits” — say Clinton may back out of the race of her own volition.

“I would not be surprised if she were to decide that the best contribution she can make to her country is to forget about being president and become a consensus-maker in the Senate,” said a leading Democratic party insider. “She believes there is no trust between the two political sides and that we can’t function as a democracy without it.”

[acmavm]

1. Too late.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2808324

[Herman Munster]

2. hmmm...

The solution, insiders say, is for Clinton to take over as Senate minority leader in 2009 from the lacklustre Harry Reid, senator for Nevada. One well-respected blog, The Washington Note, recently claimed that Reid privately told Clinton the job was hers if she gave up her presidential ambitions.

Reid’s office denied it, but the claim made its way into the Los Angeles Times where it was suggested she would make a “superlative Senate leader” while keeping her options open for the 2012 presidential race.

[PCIntern]

5. 2012?

Al Gore will be running for re-re-election in 2012.

[napi21]

8. I totally agree! Hillary would make a terrific Sen. leader!

Her backing out of a race in 08 will sendthe PUBS into a real tailspin! They've been so convinced that she was the one to attack, I don'tknow how they're going to recover!

[SoCalDem]

12. It's kind of time for senators to face some facts..(Clinton included)

Senators do not become presidents.. (Wasn't Kennedy the last one?)

Their records are TOO available, their voting too nuanced for the dimwitted (mostly) public to grasp.

Recent history proves that people can be manipulated to believe totally Orwellian crap, and vote against their own best interests..time and time again..

This is why "unknown" governors (and sometimes movie stars) do well. They are relatively unknown to people other than their own state...and once one gets attention on the national stage, even the people from his/her state who hated them as governor, all of a sudden get "state's pride" and often are their biggest supporters...why? because if he/she makes it to Pennsylvania Ave, their state will reap the big-bucks, no matter how they personally feel about the person in the white house..

Congresspeople have gone on to become president, but they serve a small constituency, and their votes are one of 435..not one of 100..

Until people get smarter, or advertising gets "fairer", I don;t see a happy result for any senator running for the presidency..male or female

[mcscajun]

19. Minority leader, hell! She'll be the Majority Leader!!

:woohoo:

Think Majority all the time!

[bullimiami]

3. she would have to be in the race to pull out. she has not declared.

i think this article is probably bs. more 'some people say' or 'unnamed inside source'

[janx]

4. Pull out of race? Was she ever in the race?

:shrug:

[jumpoffdaplanet]

14. She never was

this is just more hilary bashing.

Pretend she was "running".

Now pretend she's dropping the "run".

Pretend it's for reason like the polling is bad, meaning people don't want her in office.

Now pretend she's weaken and will now lose the primary.

Some people out there really think NY voters are idiots.

[orpupilofnature57]

6. I love Hillary ,but we need Al

[Cleita]

7. Maybe she's not polling that well and thinks she has a better

chance of remaining in Washington as a Senator. However, she may return to the White House one day as the mother of President Chelsea Clinton. It could happen.

[napi21]

17. Wrong! Her pollnumbers indicate shre is the front runner!

I certainly don't know Hillary, butI know she is her own woman! I'm sure she listens to Bill's advice, but she decides for herself what she wants to say or do.

I really thinkshe would make a terrific Majority Leader and I really this dream comes to pass!

[Raine]

9. The rePUKES must be heartbroken

at this news since they knew they could beat her easily.

[WCGreen]

10. Gee.... I said she would be more interested in leading the Senate

back in, oh what was that, 2004.....

[DiverDave]

11. Huh, I didnt know she was running...

but , I gotta say, it's good news.

[Selatius]

13. If Gore runs, it wouldn't matter what she does. n/t

[AlCzervik]

15. Wait did i miss a press conference or something announcing she was in

presidential race? Has she ever said she was running or did the collective media decide she was running? I'll wait to hear it from her.

[cigsandcoffee]

16. Ha!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1923852

She won't do it if she knows she can't win. Losing would be far worse to Hillary than not trying.

[PresidentWar]

18. Good.

[Bucky]

20. I think one Times of London reporter talked to one strategist & then wrote

this story based on this conversation and maybe, maybe, a couple of follow up "whaddaya think of this?" phone calls to other Beltway BS artists. This is a nonstory. Maybe she'll run; maybe she won't. This article offers you no real insight. It is noise, not signal.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

21. Given the fact that Hillary is the single most charged

"lightning rod" for the Repiglican Filth Machine, it would be utterly brilliant strategy for her to remain mum all the way up to the primaries, and draw fire from the right.

Hillary is the choice of a freakish right wing desperately anxious to run against her. They have an entire inside industry devoted to her much-desired candidacy.

Hillary could do great service to this country by drawing the Repigs' fire and then, simply . . . not running.

Such a tactic would be the ultimate in triangulation. It would leave a pre-fab Repig Party in absolute disarray. Without all the conspiracy theories and the backyard watermelon shooting, the sleazy little bastards would be hard-pressed to re-target their filthy, bizarre campaign tactics.

Every single right-wing hate-babbler, from Phlush to the Hannity-job to the Savage Weiner would take an instant credibility hit.

And Hillary comes out ahead, in both power and prestige. And the Democratic Party might actually have a chance to win the White House.

[LaurenG]

22. Wow

That would change some dynamics and I would breathe much easier. For the party's sake I do hope that info is good.

[saltpoint]

23. My impression is that she wants the top job over on Pennsylvania Ave.

And she's saved up a buck or two to go after it.

Name recognition isn't a problem.

I just don't know if she is interested in the rubber chicken circuit this time around. Iowa is going to be a crowded, contentious field. Her stature as a party-builder could be enhanced if she stayed in the Senate in a leadership role. But at the same time, the GOP field is really weak -- my god they're a pack of morons running for the most part -- morons and extremists or both -- so it must be pretty tempting for her to try for the White House.

[Yupster]

27. Mine too

the lure of being president is just too much for most politicians to pass up.

I fully expect her to run .... and win.

[NNN0LHI]

24. I think she would make a great Majority Senate Leader n/t

[Bluebear]

25. 'Despite her status as the runaway frontrunner'

....according to the media and the RNC, at least.

[CollegeDUer]

26. I don't need another President who supports this illegal, immoral war

I say good!