Why didn't Hillary run back in 2004?

[NightWatcher]

I'm not a huge fan of hers, but would of course rather have had her in office these past four years instead of chimpy. Why didn't she run last election? She would have wiped the floor with John Kerry. Had she won in 04 she would be in a much better place to win this year as the incumbent.

Do you think that she would have won had she gone up against Kerry in the primaries and chimpy in the general? I do.

Good luck in this next turbulent week. The main thing to remember is that without a declaration of martial law and all out chaos, the shrub will be gone in less than a year and a Democratic President will be steam cleaning the White House to get that funky bush smell out of ruggie.

[JVS]

1. Was afraid to.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Huh.

Maybe she thought she was too inexperienced and wouldn't be taken seriously.

:D

[scheming daemons]

3. She only had 31 years of experience at the time.... not enough....

;-)

[FlyingSquirrel]

32. Oh, SNAP!

:yoiks:

[mudesi]

4. Because she knew Iraq would get much worse

And it would be easier to win in 2008 than in 2004.

She didn't expect any Democratic opposition, in the form of Obama, though.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Hillary moved to New York to run, you know that

New Yorkers felt she was the type of person who could represent us. Once it was RFK who moved to New York to run for Senate and no one was displeased with that. But New Yorkers didn't want Hillary to just move here and use us as a stepping stone to drop us three year later to begin running for President. Hillary Clinton was asked by many here if she would pledge to finish her term as Senator is she was elected to the Senate from New York. And she made a pledge that she would. And she kept that pledge.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. She promised us NYers that she would finish out her term, unlike Obama who broke his

promise to his constituents to serve out his full term.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. That makes him a LIAR doesn't it? Started off lying, right from the get go.

Nice! :eyes: Of course that was his plan along so he meant to LIE.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. yup he stared in Boston.

[sendero]

26. Thank goodness..

... he did.

[anigbrowl]

28. Right, that was more important than another 4 years of W.

Sorry, I too feel very disappointed that she didn't run in 2004. Running against the memory of W in 2008 - not so impressive. If she's really all that, you NYers could have done the rest of us a favor and pushed her to run 4 years ago,

[sabbat hunter]

37. she also promised

the same thing in 06. That she had no plans to run for president, etc. No sooner was she re-elected and sworn in, than she kicked off her presidential run.

[rug]

7. She made a pledge to serve her full Senate term. Like Obama.

[LisaM]

11. Obama pledged to finish his full first Senate term?

Hmmmmm.

[rug]

13. He did. If he's elected the old politics of lying politicians will be a thing of the past.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

23. yes he did

[DJ13]

8. Ever wonder why daddy Bush got so chummy with Bill?

I've always wondered what kind of deal Bush sr. offered the Clintons to keep Hillary from running, and beating, W in 2004.

[Chisox08]

9. I think that she would have won back in 2004

Hillary should have struck while the iron was hot instead of waiting. If she would have ran back in 2004 she would have had the Black vote, the Latino vote, the Woman vote, the middle class vote and the other voters that are currently backing Obama. I thought that Obama was smart at ran at the time that he was nationally known the party loves him and while he is still young enough to appeal to young voters.

[TAWS]

10. She didn't want to face an incumbent president n/t

[Big Blue Marble]

20. That is it. She was waiting for 2008.

And welcome to DU. :hi:

[Ravy]

12. She promised NY voters she would stay her term if elected.

Obama did the same for the people of Illinois.

[politicasista]

14. Good question although I think hindsight is 20-20

As an Obama supporter, I don't think it's fair to dump on Kerry since he is a surrograte and good supporter of Obama.

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. because Kerry would have eaten her alive in the debates - though they would be entertaining

Plus, she didn't think she could beat an incumbant president, probably.

[goldcanyonaz]

18. Like Kerry beat Bush? Oh, that's right the election was stolen.

[karynnj]

30. The comment was the debates - and yes Kerry killed him in the debates

He would have killed HRC in them, which would have strengthened him. He was better on foreign policy, veterans support, health care and the environment. Kerry would also have beat her on issues like Social Security, taxes and other financial issues that he was very good on - Kerry is on the Finance committee and it shows.

Kerry also managed to keep a pleasant tone and not react even to Bush's weird actions in the debates. He also knows exactly how to get under the skin of more thin skinned people - ie HRC.

[MBS]

27. I'm with you on both points. n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

16. That is TRUE! nt

[Obamaman2008]

19. Didn't want to lose to Bush nt

[ecstatic]

21. I think she would have been perfect. But the RW really forced her in a corner

by carrying on viciously that that was her plan (to run for prez before even finishing her term). So she was forced to promise multiple times that she would not run before her term ended.

[SayitAintSo]

24. Unlike Obama, she commited to do her time in the senate n/t

[Mojambo]

25. Maximizing her chances by running without an incumbent. n/t

[karynnj]

29. Actually I think Kerry would have won just as he did

For the last 3 years, people have diminished Kerry's win in Iowa. They say that he had Cindy Vilsack's endorsement, but so did HRC in 2008 though she also had the endorsement of her husband. They said he had the firemen, well Dodd did this year. Given that neither of these people did well, maybe it's time to rethink why Kerry won. It wasn't the media - Kerry was not on the front of any, nor did he get much coverage and most of what he got dealt with when he would drop out. Kerry won Iowa by meeting face to face with people and convincing them. I think Kerry would have still won Iowa.

Kerry's victory speech was visually exactly what was needed. He was surrounded by firemen and veterans, including the one he had saved in Vietnam. This was a traumatized country - and a tall, smiling candidate speaking as Kerry did with that backdrop sends a message. Kerry also has far better foreign policy credentials. He also connected better to veterans in the Democratic party than HRC. She also would have run to the right of Kerry on the war - because that was where she was. Kerry won a higher percent of the people who labeled themselves anti-war than Dean in Iowa. Even with his vote, his history and his comments before and after the war won some (like me who were antiwar.)

Had HRC been there, it might have helped define Kerry better. Kerry beats her easily on nearly every issue. On healthcare, she failed and it would have been tough claiming S-Chip with Kerry there - his involvement was more significant. Kerry pushed the NE governors to put in the first cap and trade for acid rain that became the model for the clean air act and that is just one of Kerry's accomplishments on the environment. Kerry was easier to see as CIC and he was stronger on foreign policy with his 20 years on the SFRC.

Had HRC won, I think she would have done less well against Bush. They made stuff up because there was little to attack Kerry on. Every scandal - true or false of the 1990s would have been used. In the 1990s, there were attacks on the patriotism of both Clintons - take it for granted that Bill's "some people loathing the military would be back. Kerry lost momentum with the SBVT, but by November people knew he was what he said he was.

HRC would at best have matched Kerry's debates.

[Jamastiene]

31. She was asked that and if I recall correctly, she said

she wanted to finish her obligation as Senator for her first term before she ran.

[BigDaddy44]

33. She needed 4 more years to pull together a first rate campaign team

N/T

[Cha]

36. Welcome to DU,

BigDaddy! :)

[sfam]

34. Great great question...she probably would have won...

As bad as we now think of her strategic team right now, I think its pretty clear that Hillary as a candidate is FAR better than anyone who ran in 2004. As a Senator from NY, she would have had a nice 9/11 advantage then.

[Mezzo]

35. Easy. She keeps her promises. Obama said he wouldn't run until he served out his first term but...

well you know the rest.