The American Prospect: Should Clinton Consider Albany?

[marmar]

Should Clinton Consider Albany?

The decline of Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects does not change the fact that she is a singularly hard-working, policy-focused politician. Now that Eliot Spitzer is out, perhaps she should consider running for governor of New York.

Dana Goldstein | April 14, 2008 | web only



Hillary and Bill Clinton have already spent 12 years in the Little Rock governor's mansion. Would they consider taking up residence in another backwater state capital? And should they?
On Mar. 28, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter reported that Democratic insiders have begun buzzing about an alternate future for Hillary Clinton: running for governor of New York state in 2010. According to Alter, the candidate herself is open to the idea, although it reportedly horrifies her husband, who retains his singular focus on winning the White House.

Serving as a governor would have several obvious political benefits for Clinton. It could position her for a second presidential run in 2012, should Barack Obama become the Democratic nominee and lose to John McCain in November. A few years of executive experience would serve to further build Clinton's resume beyond her husband's administration. A governorship would also remove Clinton from the Senate, whose Democratic caucus seems less hospitable to her since key players such as Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd declared their loyalty to Team Obama.

But there's another, underappreciated reason why Hillary Clinton should consider running for governor: She'd probably be very good at the job. After all, the gradual decline of Clinton's presidential prospects does not change the fact that she is a singularly hard-working, policy-focused politician -- and someone whose skills and star power might be well-suited to shocking Albany's contentious political culture into submission.

Even before his administration collapsed in scandal, Eliot Spitzer, with his quick temper, aversion to compromise, and penchant for vengeance, proved ill-equipped to tame Albany's infighting and corruption. And while hopes were high for David Paterson, New York's first African American governor, his first month in office has been defined not by policy proposals but by a string of embarrassing personal revelations. Patterson has admitted to several affairs as well as to cocaine and marijuana use. He has helped at least one ex-girlfriend, a former Olympic track star, obtain a choice job. Unless Patterson is able to quickly change the tone of his media coverage and outline some practical policy goals for New York, he will risk losing all credibility and could very well choose, or be pressured into, not running for reelection. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=should_clinton_consider_albany

[anonymous171]

1. How will Hillary Oakley be recieved upon returning to NY?

[Hepburn]

2. I can guarantee you that if Hillary runs again for ANYTHING....

...and her nomination for the election is contested by another Dem, I will be sending a large donation to whomever is running against her.

[elocs]

3. Since I live in Wisconsin I have no problem with that. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

4. Nah. I suggest she consider Little Rock.

It would give her a chance to stand behind her insistence that she knows, understands, and appreciate the demographics of Arkansas and all similar states.

So, Hillary, whaddya think? (The pay is horrible, Hillary; you wouldn't like it.)

[TahitiNut]

5. I doubt she could carry upstate against the GOP ... and the turnout would be low in NYC.

If she ran against someone like Bloomberg, she wouldn't have a chance. (IMHO)

[Fredda Weinberg]

6. HRC won re-election w/strong support upstate. NYC is a machine

and will deliver. You obviously don't know our politics.

[TahitiNut]

7. Well, I only lived in Rochester for 9 years, so feel free to condescend.

:eyes:

[Fredda Weinberg]

10. And I attended the U of R for 12 weeks on full scholarship. Yup, I've

seen downtown. You got nothing on our machine, so feel free to be ashamed of confronting me publicly.

[TahitiNut]

11. Typical Hillbot assholery.

:eyes: Full of yourself, aren't you? :puke:

[Fredda Weinberg]

12. You had to make a fool of yourself. You know that NYC is a machine

and if it wants HRC in Albany, turnout will be exactly what she needs.

So if you want make yourself look foolish in public, be my guest. See my tagline for details, but I started politely enough.

[Alter Ego]

8. I think a few years out of Washington would be good for Hillary

in the event she does not get the Democratic nod, she should run for governor if Patterson does not.

No, I'm actually being serious.

[ErinBerin84]

9. this won't happen

Hillary is much more likely to go for Senate majority leader, in my opinion. Plus, my family is friends with some of the Republican majority leaders in Albany (I know that makes me sound ridiculous, like a "I heard..." source, but it's true. They are nice people, but I hate their political ideas. Spitzer actually had some good ideas, but he became such a partisan attack dog that it made him impossible to work with). The Republicans don't agree with Patterson's ideas, but they get along with him a lot better than they ever did with Spitzer, so I think it will probably be a good thing in the end.