General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What if we don't want Hillary Clinton as Democratic candidate? [View all]karynnj
(59,521 posts)He was so tarnished that he had to step down when Obama nominated him for Secretary of Commerce. In addition, he wiped the voting machines in NM before they could see if there was fraud in 2004. There were Native American areas where no Democratic votes for President registered - which is suspicious as most voted Democratic for all other races and were recorded NOT VOTING for President.
Weren't you one of the Edwards supporters? If so, your reasons are likely consistent with your current believes. Edwards was a very flawed messenger of what has been a long time Democratic message. Look up the convention speech (I think 1992) given by Mario Cuomo, whose record actually matched his words. (Apologies if I have your name mixed up with someone else.
2008 was a year where an unusual percent of people backed candidates they thought were exceptional once in a life time choices that inspired them - some Hillary, some Obama for the most part. I was unusual, because I was incredibly inspired by the 2004 nominee and in 2008 backed the one I did not rule out. (I had reasons I did not want either Hillary, Biden, Richardson or Edwards. Dodd was terminally uninteresting when I saw him on talk shows - that left Obama, who was inspiring, but with a very short record. However, on examination, the record short as it was - was good. I think he has been an outstanding President in an extremely difficult time. I really don't think anyone could have achieved more.
As to 2016, if more than half primary voting Democrats unite behind ONE alternative - that person will be the nominee. That was essentially the dynamic in 2008. It may be that Clinton coming out with hints of running this early is designed to either clear the field or to prevent any stealth candidate gradually becoming the obvious alternative. If the real field is larger than two candidates, I think Hillary wins.