Who is President Obama running against in his own party?

[geetrue]

Here’s my question to you: Should Democrats seek someone to run against President Obama next year?

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/18/should-dems-seek-someone-to-run-against-obama-in-2012/

Who is running against President Obama besides the by now known Republican contenders, Romney, Cain, Perry, Newt, Ron Paul?

What about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

Who has said many times, more than once at least, that she will not seek the office of the president of the United States.

But what if (this is just a what if) she decided to run at the insistance of her boss President Obama to give him someone to parry with in a run for the office, just for the fun of it?

No big fan fare, no big fund raising with someone who is basically in agreement with him as the Sectretary of State. A news day item with no chance of manifesting by the time the democrates have their convention in Charlotte, NC September 3rd thru 6th 2012.

A surprise ending could be she wins the nomanition or even becomes a vivalbe option replacement for the Vice Presidents office giving her a head start for the 2016 window.

[Skybird]

He is the office holder. ;)

On the Republican side, there is no candidate to be taken serious. Maybe fools that will be voted for. But nobody one can take as reasonable and serious. Nobody. Not Romney. Not Perry. Not Bachman. Not Cain. Palin is out.

And Cain - really needs to take some urgent geography lessons. :dead:

[vienna]

Re: the GOP candidates -- If this bunch is the best they can produce, imagine the pool of potential vice-presidential candidates; if the American voters thought Palin was a poor choice, they may be further dismayed... :nope:

[Oberon]

I'm not seeing any outstanding candidates from the GOP, Romney will probably take it...perhaps some challenge from Perry, but the others...nah.

Will Romney or Perry have enough power behind them to unseat Obama? Tough call, perhaps they might build up some momentum on the way down, but if the current progress is anything to go by, then it'll be Obama 2012.

[vienna]

I'm not seeing any outstanding candidates from the GOP, Romney will probably take it...perhaps some challenge from Perry, but the others...nah.


I also think it will be Romney. But the question still remains: Who will the GOP select to be "a heartbeat away"? The 2008 GOP presidential bid imploded when they saddled McCain with Palin (I would have voted for McCain, except for that issue). I don't see the egos of most of the other candidates allowing them to play second to Romney. The one's who might play second (Cain, Bachman, etc.) leave the GOP wide open to a repeat of 2008...

[TLAM Strike]

He is the office holder. ;) Still has to be nominated by the Party.

Bobby Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey both ran for the Democratic nomination for 1968 while LBJ was in office (although LBJ was not seeking a second full term).

In the 1976 Republican convention Reagan challenged incumbent president Jerry Ford and nearly won. Ford would then lose to Carter in the general election.

;)

[vienna]

LBJ was a non-runner and the nomination was up for anyone; he didn't really factor in, except for the "taint" he gave to Humphrey...

Gerald Ford nearly lost to Ronald Reagan not because Regan was an as good or better candidate on his merits, rather Ford had irrevocably and severely damaged his political capital by his very poor handling of the domestic economic crisis (remember the W.I.N. buttons?) and by his pardonning of Nixon for his crimes related to Watergate. The fact that the GOP decided to put Ford up for re-election is an indicator of how poorly Regan was held by the GOP in comparison to Ford...

Jimmy Carter did not win the presidency, therefore, because he was the better suited or qualified candidate; he won because he wasn't Gerald Ford. Hell, in the 1976 election, even Eugene McCarthy or some other extreme-left member of the Dems could have beat Ford...

BTW, I do admire Carter for his humanitarian activities after leaving the presidency; all too often, ex-presidents feed at the trough of paid speeches and other self-agrandizing, self-enriching projects...