The 2016 campaign has already begun
Imagine for a moment how Democrats would feel late on the night of Nov. 6 if news outlets began to call the race for Mr. Romney or another Republican. The comedown from four years earlier would be one of the starkest in American political history. The promise of Mr. Obama’s victory would yield to the reality that a Republican president, and probably a Republican Congress, would be likely to undo significant parts of his agenda, starting with aspects of health care reform.
The post-mortem is easy enough to predict: Mr. Obama was a lamb among lions, naïve to believe that he could win Congressional Republicans over to major bills, even compromises. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said as much early in Mr. Obama’s term…
If Mr. Obama loses, attention will shift to Mrs. Clinton almost immediately. She brings her own baggage, having run a troubled presidential campaign and been a leading figure in a somewhat chaotic White House. She also sounds sincere when she talks of wanting a break. Arguably, no public figure has had a more intense past 20 years.
But at 64, she remains energetic and politically attuned. With friends and close colleagues, she still talks passionately about how she believes the Republican Party is harming the country. Polls show that she is among the most admired people in the United States. Given all that, turning down the prospect of beating a Republican incumbent might not be so easy.
Blowback
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How’d I know something this stupid would have to be from the NYT before I even checked? Clinton in ’16? Old gray mare ain’t gonna be what she used to be.
abobo on February 6, 2012 at 10:15 PM
President Elizabeth Warren = I blow my brains out
Mark1971 on February 6, 2012 at 10:16 PM
Although Deval Patrick is only given a single line in the entire article, and a passing one at that, if Obama is thrown out this fall, look for Massachusetts governor to pick up the mantle, starting the campaign. Especially so if Mitt Romney is the next President. It would set up a former Massachusetts governor against a current one.
Jurisprudence on February 6, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Hilary v Chris Christie. That might be a b*tch fight worth watching.
cynccook on February 6, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Hilary v Chris Christie. That might be a b*tch fight worth watching.
cynccook on February 6, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Shoot me now.
flyfisher on February 6, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Yep, that’ll be the story of the Obama Presidency: the futility of electing him with a Republican Congress.
Oh, wait.
HitNRun on February 6, 2012 at 10:31 PM
LOL Sorry, I thought we were trying to come up with a post-apocalyptic horror scenario here!
cynccook on February 6, 2012 at 10:41 PM
Well, that race would fit the bill nicely.
flyfisher on February 6, 2012 at 10:44 PM
Hillary should have stayed out of the administration and primaried Obama. She could have knocked him off.
Southernblogger on February 6, 2012 at 10:58 PM
Of the Democrats listed there, Liberals should be very excited about the prospect of a President Warren. If as a Republican I’d have to choose from the above candidates, I’d probably most be able to put up with President Cuomo or Mark Warner.
vegconservative on February 6, 2012 at 10:59 PM
He did not need to convince people in congress to agree with him. Obama needed to be on the side of the American people, either by moving to where they were or persuading them to move to where he was, or some compromise. He failed miserably at this, it is why he is not beloved.
George W Bush did the same thing. He pushed No Child Left Behind without the American public’s blessing, but it was good times, and they let him pass. Then he passed sarbanes-oxley with almost all the details hidden from the public and no accounting of the effects it would have, but they let it pass, they were worried about the wars. Then came the push for amnesty, and he told the peons to get in line and accept his policy, and if they did not agree they were xenophobes and racists. We stopped him with public outcry, because the conservatives feared for their positions of power. Yet the ultimate in betrayal in the TARP Bailouts was the final straw, and the republicans lost all credibility by acting diametrically opposed to the will of the people.
Romney is not a communicator, If elected he will Obama bottom out just as quickly as Obama did. He is not a leader, he will estrange himself from the conservatives he will need to get majorities and keep them in congress. he is not persuasive, and if he does not start with support for his policies, he will never gain it, and like Pelosi/Reid pass it against the will of the people.
Any way it goes this November, it is likely we will have a brand spanking new President in 2017. If we keep Obama, we will get a Republican, if we vote in Romney, we will get a new Obama clone.
astonerii on February 6, 2012 at 11:00 PM
I think that’s partly true. Romney will be president for the next four years, but no more. He will complete a second term on behalf of Obama and that will tee off a lot of conservatives.
rickv404 on February 6, 2012 at 11:00 PM
President Santorum vs Governor Cuomo would be a fun race to watch, and would almost definitely be a referendum on Gay Marriage.
vegconservative on February 6, 2012 at 11:00 PM
Typical NY Times crap– all about the next Dem messiah, no mention of the ridiculously deep field Republicans will have for 2016 (let alone the fact we will probably have an incumbent running for re-election)– Ryan, Rubio, Pence, Jindal, McDonnell, Walker, etc etc etc
And LOL at the wishful daydreaming going on here with them mentioning Warren– just mroe pathetically biased left wing reporting
thurman on February 6, 2012 at 11:38 PM
Even the Clintons would not have predicted this level of incompetence from the Bamster.
slickwillie2001 on February 7, 2012 at 12:40 AM
I predict Warren will someday be their nominee – perhaps as early as 2016. She meets all their criteria: ivy league lawyer with no experience outside of academia and government. She is as well-versed in class warfare as any modern politician and is a woman to boot.
The Count on February 7, 2012 at 12:49 AM
Impossible. She would do irreparable damage to their death grip on the 90% black automaton voting bloc and would lose the general because of it. Black voters don’t elect democrats for logical reasons anyway – primarying the first black president could turn them almost into swing voters. The DNC would never stand for it.
The Count on February 7, 2012 at 12:58 AM
She’s already 62. She’d be relatively old with very little gov’t experience in 2016. Not sure thats a good resume for a potential president, but that didn’t stop Obama I suppose.
vegconservative on February 7, 2012 at 1:41 AM
The Unbearable Whiteness of ’16
All the dems are so white.
RightKlik on February 7, 2012 at 1:49 AM
Governor O’Malley of Maryland has already been running for ’16 for several years.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on February 7, 2012 at 7:42 AM
Hint: if Obama wins or steals the election in 2012 there won’t BE any elections by 2016.
Things will get so bad that Emperor Hussein I “mmm mmm mmm” will simply suspend the Constitution.
wildcat72 on February 7, 2012 at 7:56 AM