Clearly Hillary has blown it. As much as I like her, personally, I believe she’s become too tied up in how she appears, as a candidate, to actually *function *as a candidate.
Now it’s possible she may resurface in four years, of course. Or Al Gore may have a sex change operation. But barring that (heaven forfend!) is there a woman, now, who seems likely to go down (Monica Lewinsky jokes aside) in history as the first XX POTUS?
Kathleen Sebilius
No way Condi…weeell - Maybe.
Nitpick aside, I do agree; infact, I personally would put her ahead of Obama even if she was in the running right now. I think she is the frontrunner though, especially after she improves her resume’ with 8 years as VP to Barack Obama. On the other hand of course, that would make her 67-68 at the time, so that’s a potential hindrance. Janet Napolitano is equally as likely to become both VP and then on to P. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is another to add to that list. As far as credentials and media coverage go, I think these are the big three.
Across the aisle, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) could be quite likely. Socially, she seems to be really more of a RINO, but is still hawkish enough. I would put her as the Right’s equivalent to Kathleen Sebelius, though notably without the executive experience on her profile. I would be very unsurprised to see her name follow Mccain’s on the ballot this year, though again, she could be 70 by the time she gets her best shot.
Our two Senators here in Washington both could have somewhat reasonable, but still outside chances,Sen. Maria Cantwell, Sen. Patty Murray. While I think Cantwell is more likely, she does have the baggage of the AUMF-Iraq and Patriot Act votes; not sure how long those will continue to haunt potential candidates.
I don’t honestly know a whole lot about her, but Rep.Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) is another whom I seem to see and hear quite a bit about and who’s name I bet will come up in the future.
…and of course you know that Chelsea has been groomed from the start, however, I believe we will see a woman President long before Chelsea has the credentials to run.
As far as Hillary goes, yes, IMHO, there are better female candidates on the horizon, ones with already better resume’s and more likable personalities. She could have worked on all this, accomplishments and image, especially with in the newly Democratic Congress. She has instead gone scorched-earth, burnt-bridge, balls to the walls, all out, in order to win this time, but it has probably cost her any shot in the future. I think her age is the factor behind this, again, by 2016 she would be nearing 70. As unfair as it might be, I think age will play a bigger role for female candidates than it does for men.
ETA: I think and hope, that Hillary, if she doesn’t get the nomination, will go on from here to be a longtime force in the Senate.
There’s still a chance something happens to Bush and Cheney simultaneously has a heart attack. President Pelosi is not out of the realm of possibility.
I wonder about Hillary going on to an illustrious senate career. I do not mean to Hijack, but would Hillary be able to continue years and years in the Senate with the scarlet letter of - YOU LOST - imposed on her by the one person who means the most to the woman? Herself. I’m not saying this to be mean, I think everyone should be selfish when it comes to looking after #1. I just wonder if she will be able to stay in the senate as a huge force having lost after hamboning her candidacy. Nothing is written in stone and she may cinch a nomination through her means, but I’m doubtful after the state of affairs the race is in now. Obama just needs to continue to rack up delegates through huge margin wins in remaining states - Mississippi will surly go to him, and WY already did.
I’ve always liked Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), and if McCain wins this year, I’d say she won’t be too old to run herself in 2012. Smart, experienced, and from the biggest state - could be a real contender.
I think she will continue on, if at least only for the same reason I think she is so hell bent on winning it all this time around- fighting back with the Republicans. I think she likes the game too much to leave it.
The talk mostly has been about Edwards, but perhaps she could be picked for AG and get her fight on there? Or be a SC Justice and haunt the Republicans for years to come? If nothing else, those nomination hearings would make for some very entertaining C-Span.
Of course, I could also see her “settling” and maybe running as Governor of New York, especially given today’s news with Spitzer. Now that I think about it, this could be a very real possibility, maybe giving it one more, albeit a whole lot longer, shot in 2012.
My worry if Obama does go to the Oval Office and Clinton does go back to the Senate, is whether or not she will carry some sort of grudge against Obama and push against him through the length of their terms.
/end my share of the hijack.
Anyone else have any potential Madame President candidates? Even if they might not be the first, who are some of the rising stars? It seems as though a lot of people are under the belief that this is the best and only chance to have a woman President, I like be able to say: “Relax, go with the better candidate, Obama, for now. There is still, a, b, c, x, y and z on the horizon.”
I more than anyone, okay, more than many, would love to see a woman President, I just don’t think Hillary is the right woman. I know we would probably have to deal with Schwarzenegger as a candidate, but even still, I fully support amending the Constitution so that we may put Elizabeth Kucinich on the ballot. Just sayin’ is all…
Lordy no. She is even more of a DINO-sore than Clinton might be.
[ul]
[li]Yes on AUMF-Iraq[/li][li]Yes for giving telecomms immunity[/li][li]Yes for confirming AG Mukasey[/li][li]Uncommited on whether or not to greet Opal[/li][li]Cosponsored a bill to extend the Patriot Act[/li][li]Main Dem sponsor of Flag Burning amendment[/li][/ul]
…and the list could go on.
She’ll be 79 years old in 2012.
We will have a female POTUS in the next 20 years.
That’s interesting…governor of NY? Not popular enough though.
[lisa simpson]
And yes, I am proud to be the first straight female president of the United States!
[/ls]
While I’m not at all convinced that Hillary has blown it (at least not since Lewinsky) or that she’s at all out of the running for the DemNom, I see a star rising over Alaska for future Madame* Presidents (albeit Repub). She’s got charm, charisma, and a name that invites Python jokes.
ETA:*I’m not a madame I’m a concierge!
We’re already at the point where we can discuss actual names as real possibilities, and there are quite a number of them. I don’t think it will take even that long, myself - even if Clinton falls short this time, she’ll at least have gotten the backlash of misogyny put largely behind us, so the next woman can be assessed more objectively.
But who are the prospects on the GOP side?
It worked for Teddy Kennedy.
Absolutely, just by being a serious candidate, she’s broken the sound barrier. As, of course, has Obama. However this election turns out, it’s a turning point.
The first female that will be POTUS is probably in college right now.
So it’s not Oprah, then?..
Too big a cut in pay (and arguably power).
Four years ago most of us had never heard of Obama and he’s got pretty good odds of being our next president. I think the first woman president is likely also to be a fast-rising star most of us haven’t heard of, not a high-profile longtime pol with lots of baggage.
She will have to be a governor, not a senator. Or maybe a flag rank officer plus some other executive service.
POTUS is an executive job, and prime candidates have prior experience as successful executives - a person with gubernatorial plus legislative experience would be nice.