Tuesday, January 30, 2007
'Cold, Aloof Persona' Hurts Hillary
Hillary Clinton’s lead in the polls in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 is "far more fragile” than commonly believed, according to respected political pundit Larry Sabato.
Sabato – director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – acknowledges that it’s still too early to predict with any certainty who will win the Democratic nod.
But he writes in his "Crystal Ball”: "[Clinton’s] fairly consistent lead in the polls is far more fragile than most observers appear to realize. Democrats undeniably like and respect her, but they also sense that she will have a difficult time winning in November, absent an irresistible Democratic tide.
"Her cold, aloof persona, combined with the dozens of major controversies that have enveloped her since the 1980s, are off-putting to a significant slice of the electorate, including the critical independents and moderates who produced the 2006 Democratic victories . . .
"Do Democrats need to burden their campaign of restoration with Clinton scandals, old and new?”
Sabato also raises this question: "Should only two families supply all the U.S. Presidents between 1989 and 2017? This is the American Republic, not a banana republic.”
As for the two leading "non-Hillary” candidates, Sabato writes that Sen. Barack Obama "lacks broad experience” and "has never been tested,” while former Sen. John Edwards "has about as thin a record as Obama, and can be considered yesterday’s man.”
However, Sabato opines that if the war in Iraq is still being waged through 2008, and is "still as much of a policy disaster as it is at present, the Democrats will have to try hard in order to lose the presidential election.”
Hillary Clinton’s lead in the polls in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 is "far more fragile” than commonly believed, according to respected political pundit Larry Sabato.
Sabato – director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – acknowledges that it’s still too early to predict with any certainty who will win the Democratic nod.
But he writes in his "Crystal Ball”: "[Clinton’s] fairly consistent lead in the polls is far more fragile than most observers appear to realize. Democrats undeniably like and respect her, but they also sense that she will have a difficult time winning in November, absent an irresistible Democratic tide.
"Her cold, aloof persona, combined with the dozens of major controversies that have enveloped her since the 1980s, are off-putting to a significant slice of the electorate, including the critical independents and moderates who produced the 2006 Democratic victories . . .
"Do Democrats need to burden their campaign of restoration with Clinton scandals, old and new?”
Sabato also raises this question: "Should only two families supply all the U.S. Presidents between 1989 and 2017? This is the American Republic, not a banana republic.”
As for the two leading "non-Hillary” candidates, Sabato writes that Sen. Barack Obama "lacks broad experience” and "has never been tested,” while former Sen. John Edwards "has about as thin a record as Obama, and can be considered yesterday’s man.”
However, Sabato opines that if the war in Iraq is still being waged through 2008, and is "still as much of a policy disaster as it is at present, the Democrats will have to try hard in order to lose the presidential election.”
