Thursday, July 30, 2009

Conspiracy Theory Fun House: Hillary 2012?

Hmmm...

Hillary Clinton says running for office isn't on her "radar," but she still has an eight-person political team and sports two overflowing campaign war chests.

Her team transformed the former Democratic White House contender's massive campaign debts into a $3 million mountain of political cash, according to federal fund-raising records through the end of June.

Despite Clinton herself denying it, here are some other interesting bits from the article:

Democratic operatives were surprised at the size of the operation. "She's got eight?" said one Democrat. "Can I get a job there?"

By comparison, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is up for reelection next year, had just three people on staff last quarter.

But analysts said as long as Clinton has a campaign committee with millions of dollars in it - dormant or not - she has weight in the political world.

So, let's don the tinfoil hat and speculate a bit.  Barack Obama has completely fouled up all of the hope-n-change warm fuzzies that swirled around the Democrat party last fall.  He has wrecked the economy for generations to come, voluntarily disarmed some of America's most advanced defense systems, proven his utter ineptness on national security and foreign policy, and placed many Democrats in red-leaning districts in some serious heat.  Aside from the most Kool-Aid drenched Obots, many Democrats are showing some distinct signs of unease at what Obama's done.  Independents are fleeing the Democrat side of the house in droves, proving that they've already had enough of his distinctly non-centrist policies.

Now, what would happen if Obama fails to pass two of his signature legislative priorities (cap and trade and government-controlled health care)?  And what if the poll numbers continued their downward spiral over the next two years as the results of Obama's policies take firmer effect on the American people and their pocketbooks?  What if -- God forbid -- we get hit with another major terrorist attack, especially something directly due to Obama (closing Gitmo, killing missile defense, allowing North Korea or Iran to pursue nukes, etc.)?  Could the argument then be made that Obama had his chance and whiffed?  Could the argument be made that Obama's policies have had a dramatically negative effect on the Democrat party at large, and thus needs to be removed for the greater good (and boy, wouldn't that be some delicious irony for the Socialist-in-Chief)?

Is it really that much of a stretch for Hillary -- a battle-hardened, experienced, and proven politician -- to step up and say that she's the future of the Democrat party?  She could draw many of those Indies back and give plausible cover to Dems who voted for Obama and experienced buyer's remorse for a palatable alternative.  If the GOP makes huge gains in 2010, if the economy doesn't recover, and if the buyer's remorse continues growing, is it really that impossible?  Hillary seems to be keeping at least one toe in the doorway, anyway.  It seems like one of the few things that you can count on with a politician is that if they go out of their way to say they're not considering a run for higher office, you can bet they're considering a run for higher office.

Hillary 2012?  It's more than a little crazy...right...?

There's my two cents.

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