Assume the 2008 election had gone the other way. McCain and Palin got the 52.9% of the popular vote and the 365 electoral votes and beat Obama and Biden.
Who do you think the Democratic challenger would be in this election?
Assume that other than this history changed as little as possible other than the outcome of the last election. So don’t argue that there wouldn’t be an election because it would have been cancelled or that McCain was assassinated or that the Libertarians won a majority in Congress in the 2010 elections.
As I’ve said in another thread, candidates don’t get second chances anymore. If Obama had lost in 2008, I doubt he’d run again. And Edwards self-destructed.
So Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden? Somebody waiting in the wings? McCain would be an incumbent which might scare off some potential candidates. On the other hand, we’d be coming to the end of a third consecutive Republican administration and there might be a greater desire for a change (the last time a party held the White House past three terms was 1948).
So the Republicans passed a stimulus package then? Because if they didn’t we would be suffering a deep recession and any Dem would be basically guaranteed a victory.
Methinks it would be Hillary’s turn. Though there would be a real opening for any Democrat with a plan and a populist message.
I am going to have to grit my teeth and say Hilary. She has done all that the party faithful have asked her to do, and that goes back to Bill’s presidency. She could have made his administration a mess and drag the party through the mud. But she was a good soldier, and I think she would get the nod… and it would be one of the most interesting primaries, debates and elections in history.
Hilary would NEVER pick a woman as a running mate, for a number of reasons. But it just wouldn’t happen. She would have to pick someone that would appeal to the voter that could help someone who wants to vote for a democrat and can’t stand her to pull the lever for her.
I’m thinking middle aged white male who has a record of keeping his zipper up. I don’t know who that might be. What has Gary Condit been up to lately?
FTR, if Obama wins this year, the democrats are screwed in 2016, unless Biden does the right thing for the party and pulls out of the running for President. Because Joe Biden is the Democratic Party’s answer to Dan Quayle. Joe Biden is an idiot. As the presidential candidate, they wouldn’t be able to put a muzzle on him like they have done pretty successfully the last 4 years.
YMMV, no purchase necessary, void where prohibited.
Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee after another contentious series of primaries, in which her past support for an individual mandate was unfavorably contrasted with her promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care through Personal Responsibility Act, also known as Romneycare after the prominent HHS Secretary.
My guess would be Clinton as well. She was a strong contender in 2008 and the Democrats would have been looking for a fighter to challenge an incumbent McCain. And I think Clinton, not having been Secretary of State, would feel she had something to prove and would want another shot at the nomination. And Palin, as Vice President, would lower any lingering resistance to the idea of a woman candidate.
McCain wouldn’t be running because Palin would have shot and skinned him within the week of the inauguration. His only appearances at the 2012 election cycle would be next to the mashed potatoes.
It might have been interesting. I think he would have returned to the “maverick” McCain instead of running for office guided by political strategists McCain.