Hillary hack (*cough cough*) Susan Estrich says Obama is Hill's only competition

[jefferson_dem]

For whatever it's worth...

A Race With Obama Will Boost Hillary's Presidential Hopes

Sunday , November 19, 2006
By Susan Estrich

<SNIP>

Without Obama, what kind of competition does Hillary really face? If her opponents are that weak, how much do you gain by beating them?

<SNIP>

You can’t do that when you’re beating straw men.

You can’t do that by defeating a guy who makes jokes about the troops being stupid, or another who has had a tendency lately to fly off the handle ( I mean Gore, not Dean), or a guy no one’s ever heard of who ran 20 years ago (sorry Joe, but come to think of it, Al ran 20 years ago too)…. You need to beat winners, not losers.

That’s where Obama comes in.

Everyone I hear from who knows him sings his praises. My friend Dolores says he’s got it. She is close to him, and to his wife. My friend Charles, his mentor in law school, says the same thing. This is no flash in the pan boy wonder. This is the real thing. After all, he’s a former Harvard Law Review President (just a joke, so am I; we share that first).

<SNIP>

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,230610,00.html

[Bullet1987]

1. In the past couple days...

...I've changed my mind. I don't think Barack Obama is running...just a gut feeling. But I think he's going to stay in the Senate and run when he's ready.

[newyawker99]

25. Hi Bullet1987!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BlueStater]

2. Obama is doing well in the polls...

...simply because he has gotten a lot of media attention lately with his possible presidential bid.

Gore, Kerry, Edwards, etc. have hardly been in the news at all lately (and in Kerry's case, it was negative attention over a bullshit non-story).

[aquart]

3. Fox news??? Thank you for your concern.

I really don't like being put in the position of defending Hillary Clinton, but I'm beginning to get pissed off.

Your chosen quotes promote Obama, not Clinton.

As to what this might be worth...I'll go with nothing.

[jefferson_dem]

9. No concern here, friend. And there's certainly no reason to get pissed off as you say.

I just found this article um...*interesting* in the way it portrays the "invisible primary" now underway in our party.

While i see some truth in what's stated, i am not about to vouch for the credibility of either Estrich, the article, or the cesspool-so-called-news-outlet she penned it for.

[Bluzmann57]

4. The midterms just ended

So who the hell knows who will be either party's favorite in 2008? This is one reason that campaign reform is necessary. To ensure that everyone who wants to run has a fair chance. Hillary is supposedly gathering massive money, Obama is the new "fair haired boy" so to speak, what about some others who might actually either want it and/or be qualified? All this speculation two years out is ridiculous.

[BlueStater]

6. The Democratic party rarely nominates the person...

...people think are going to be nominated.

No one in 1990 could have predicted Bill Clinton would be the nominee. Likeless, everyone thought that Howard Dean had the nomination locked up in '04. Few people had even heard of Jimmy Carter in 1975.

[mtnsnake]

5. It's true, Obama is her only competition. The man is the real deal.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Real deal versus the phony deal

25 years of Bushes and Clintons must come to an end!

[mtnsnake]

11. No, real deal versus her only competition. No greens are even in the picture

lol

[IndianaGreen]

12. Greens, snake?

Are you a snake?

[mtnsnake]

16. Got somethin' against 'em?

Snakes, that is?

[KoKo]

15. Obama is the "Media's Real Deal." It remains to be seen how the

"Real Deal" really performs and what's in it for him that the MSCorporate Media just loves this guy so much. They loved Harold Ford, too. They don't seem to like Jesse Jackson, jr. so much though.

[mtnsnake]

18. I never said he's the "media's" real deal.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Estrich writes of Hillary's "transformation, " while Hillary herself is "evolving"

(her words) on same sex marriage.

My friends, America cannot afford to wait for Hillary to transform like a changeling, or evolve like some primitive life form. A Hillary metamorphosis is not what the country needs. Why Hillary when we have a Wes Clark, or an Obama, or a Gore, or a Kerry?

[wisteria]

20. Absolutely correct- why settle for her? n/t

[David Dunham]

10. Susan E. will be in for a rude awakening if Al Gore runs.

[BluegrassDem]

13. I think Susan is right

Obama would give Hillary a true challenge and she'll become a better campaigner because of it.

[qazplm]

14. true

Gore will be a formidable opponent IF he runs.

But if he doesnt, I dont know that Estrich isnt right. Outside of Obama, not sure who at this point can be identified as someone who will for sure give Hillary a run for her money. Not to say someone wont emerge. Warner would have been that guy. I suppose Clark could be. Edwards maybe but I dunno.

[politicasista]

17. I would rather let the voters decide

rather than some post midterm election hype.

Yawn. :boring:

[wisteria]

19. This woman is flakey.She sounds drunk all the time. Oh, and she only

gets work on Fox News. That should tell you something.

[blm]

21. Why does ESTRICH use BushInc's LIE that Kerry said troops are stupid in her effort to

promote Hillary?

[wisteria]

23. Because Senator Clinton looks like a backstabbing opportunist otherwise. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

28. Because that's how the Clinton people are

that's why the Clinton people rejoiced that Kerry did not challenge the Ohio results, which they knew were suspect.

[Alhena]

22. If Obama doesn't run, I expect Evan Bayh's stock to rise

yes, I know- we don't like Evan Bayh here, but the fact is that there will be a lot of nervous Democratic power-brokers if Hillary appears to be the inevitable choice. Bill Clinton said years ago that he looked forward to voting for Bayh for president, so I think Bayh has the potential to be an A-list candidate even though his name recognition is now very low. I really think Bayh could make inroads among southern and western white males that Hillary couldn't make.

That's another reason why I so badly want Obama to run- he's an actual Democrat, unlike Bayh, and I think his personal charisma is so great that he can bring aboard many voters on the force of his personality who don't necessarily agree with many of his policies.

[cali]

27. Bayh is one of the dullest candidates I can imagine.

Whatever the opposite of charisma is, he has it. I can't imagine his stock rising.

[Alhena]

24. Obama is a genuine phenomenon, not a media one ...

The connection he has with audiences is something that the Democrats haven't seen since RFK. Did you see the Nightline special which followed him campaigning for Dem candidates? The effect he has an audiences is amazing. He's not a media phenomenon- he's a genuine phenomenon.

And I'm as caught up with it as anyone.

He's also a genius- Harvard law school doesn't just hand out magna cum laude honors.

[geek tragedy]

26. Her experience advising Dukakis makes her manifestly

qualified to pontificate on presidential politics.

:sarcasm: