Hillary as an Independent in 2008?

[Beet]

What would the map have looked like if, instead of dropping out on June 4, 2008, Hillary aggressively pursued her rights all the way to the Democratic convention in late August? Let's say she is narrowly defeated for the nomination by super-delegates in an extremely polarizing process, with accusations of racism and sexism flying everywhere, then asks her people to withdraw from the convention and announces her run as an independent. What would the map look like then?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Only NC would flip to McCain in that scenario, nothing else would change. Hillary would look like a sore, egocentric loser who only cares about herself and not the American people and it would destroy a potential 2016 run.

Uh, this is Hillary Clinton, not Carol Mosley Braun. The map would be very, very blue.

[Beet]

I think she would have been able to pull 20% of Obama's ultimate voters over to her.

[solarstorm]

I think she would have won Arkansas.
It is also easily conceivable that some paradoxes could have occurred; Hillary could have attracted many one-time Republicans that only voted for McCain in fierce opposition to Obama.
States like West Virginia, Kentucky or Louisiana going for Obama would have been unintentionally hilarious.

[Maxwell]

McCain wins easily.

[IceSpear]

Hillary probably snags 5-10% of the vote, severely damaging but not destroying Obama's chances. Although most of it would have come from Obama, she could've taken away a bit from McCain as well, particularly in Appalachia. My guess of a map:

McCain - 275
Obama - 263

[NewYorkExpress]

In this case, Hillary is a stronger (and multi focused) Ross Perot, meaning a true three-way race.

Obama wins by a similar electoral vote margin, but a much smaller popular vote margin. Given the economic collapse, Hillary might beat out McCain for second in the popular vote, and win states like Missouri and Indiana.

[Indy Texas]

There are a lot of states where it would be too late for her to get a spot on the ballot as an independent to begin with if she decided to do this following the August DNC.

[NewYorkExpress]

There are a lot of states where it would be too late for her to get a spot on the ballot as an independent to begin with if she decided to do this following the August DNC.

The last primary is in June. The DNC is in August... She would've skipped the DNC altogether.

[Jerseyrules]

In this case, Hillary is a stronger (and multi focused) Ross Perot, meaning a true three-way race.

Obama wins by a similar electoral vote margin, but a much smaller popular vote margin. Given the economic collapse, Hillary might beat out McCain for second in the popular vote, and win states like Missouri and Indiana.

lolno

Hillary might hit the 20% mark, would almost undoubtedly qualify for the Presidential debates, etc. but no way she dips into McCain's votes more than Obama's.  McCain wins at least 300 EV's and probably wins high 30's or low 40's in PV

[Sumner 1868]

The self-destructive dysfunction in the Democratic Party needed to cause this is borderline impossible after the 2006 elections.

[NewYorkExpress]

The self-destructive dysfunction in the Democratic Party needed to cause this is borderline impossible after the 2006 elections.

My words. Why does everyone think Dems would have allowed such a split to elect McCain?

This is Hillary Clinton we're talking about....when has she ever cared what anyone (except herself) thinks?

[Sumner 1868]

The self-destructive dysfunction in the Democratic Party needed to cause this is borderline impossible after the 2006 elections.

My words. Why does everyone think Dems would have allowed such a split to elect McCain?

This is Hillary Clinton we're talking about....when has she ever cared what anyone (except herself) thinks?

This does nothing to help her career, though. In fact, the backlash will be so severe and so fast she'll be wishing she was post-2000 Ralph Nader by the end.

[RosettaStoned]

McCain: 293
Obama: 152
Hillary: 93

  Hilldawg would have won California.

[Mister Mets]

Hillary would have gotten more than ten percent of the vote, enough to make McCain President.

A plausible map...

McCain/ Palin- 316 Electoral Votes, 43%
Obama/ Pelosi- 222 Electoral Votes, 38%
Hillary Clinton/ Ed Rendell- 0 Electoral Votes, 18%

The recrimations would be interesting. Obviously, many members of the party would be upset at her, but they're also out of the White House if she does the same thing in 2012.

Running mates would be an interesting question. Obama might try to turn out the base more.

[Agonized-Statism]

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) / Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) ✓
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) / Senator Joe Biden (D-DE)
Senator Hillary Clinton (PUMA-NY) / Governor Ed Rendell (PUMA-PA)

President McCain then screws up so bad that Democrats rally behind someone in 2012 or Clinton's vanity project ends up outdoing the Republicans for that election at least.

[Ragnaroni]

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) / Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) ✓
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) / Senator Joe Biden (D-DE)
Senator Hillary Clinton (PUMA-NY) / Governor Ed Rendell (PUMA-PA)

President McCain then screws up so bad that Democrats rally behind someone in 2012 or Clinton's vanity project ends up outdoing the Republicans for that election at least.

The last post here was from 2015, that was 8 years ago....