Can Hillary be defeated in the primary?

[Governor PiT]

?

[Please Delete my account!!]

Yes

[Soaring Eagle]

Yes, in fact I think she will have a tougher primary battle than McCain. She rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I went to a speech of her's before. She is a smart woman and an impressive speaker, but not somebody I would want running the country. I think many other Democrats agree. I will likely support John Edwards, unless Obama runs.

[© tweed]

Probably only Gore can.

[Jacobtm]

Are people forgetting the primary schedule?

Iowa-> Nevada-> New Hampshire-> South Carolina.

Besides New Hampshire, where would she even have an easy time?

[Defarge]

Absolutely, as long as anti-hillary forces rally around a candidate in time.  If Obama runs, he'll win the nomination.  If not Obama, Edwards will have to quickly push out all the other candidates, and claim the mantle for himself

[Boris]

Are people forgetting the primary schedule?

Iowa-> Nevada-> New Hampshire-> South Carolina.

Besides New Hampshire, where would she even have an easy time?

It really depends upon how the campaigns develop. If those primaries were held today, she'd probably take Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire while losing South Carolina in a close race to Edwards.

[Mr. Morden]

Are people forgetting the primary schedule?

Iowa-> Nevada-> New Hampshire-> South Carolina.

Besides New Hampshire, where would she even have an easy time?

This is actually something that I've been wondering about.  What is Hillary's base?  You could argue that it's the party regulars, who would show up for a caucus, as in IA or NV, but would *not* be as much of a factor in NH's open primary which allows independents to vote....or you could argue that the party regulars in IA and NV will reject Hillary, because they're more liberal than the independents who get to vote in NH, and they won't support a candidate who voted for the war.

[Mr. Morden]

Absolutely, as long as anti-hillary forces rally around a candidate in time.  If Obama runs, he'll win the nomination.  If not Obama, Edwards will have to quickly push out all the other candidates, and claim the mantle for himself

Is it really necessary for the anti-Hillary forces to rally around one candidate in order for her to lose?  That's not what happened in 2004, when Howard Dean's candidacy collapsed.  In that case, he was being attacked from all sides by multiple challengers, and the combination of those attacks with his own foot-in-mooth disease ended up causing his candidacy to implode.  It was never really a 2-man race.  In fact, up until about two weeks before the IA caucus, *Gephardt* was seen as his principal rival in Iowa.

[The Dowager Mod]

Both Rolling Stone and the New York Times seem to be implying Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President may actually be a tactical blocking maneuver coordinated with and intended to help Hillary Clinton's likely White House bid. His candidacy diminishes Iowa as a key contest state, allowing Clinton to skip the state's famed "retail politics" in favor of big budget media campaigns in larger media market states.

From Politics1.com

[AuH2O]

I don't see how she can be stopped. Gore would have an outside shot, but that's it.

[Tender Branson]

Barely. If Gore and Obama are deciding not to run, this woman will sweep the primaries.

[Gabu]

You know, I can't understand it with Hillary and 2008.  Absolutely no Democrat whatsoever wants her as the party's nominee.  I have never met or heard from a single one.  Yet it's taken as all but a complete given that Hillary will win.

Why?

You win primaries by, er, being supported and having people vote for you... at least last I checked.

[Reignman]

Hillary is definately the front-runner, but there is a less than 50% chance she'll win. Think of all the other guys who could potentially beat her (there will even be some that drain more votes from her than from other competitors).

[Middle-aged Europe]

You know, I can't understand it with Hillary and 2008.  Absolutely no Democrat whatsoever wants her as the party's nominee.  I have never met or heard from a single one.  Yet it's taken as all but a complete given that Hillary will win.

Why?

You win primaries by, er, being supported and having people vote for you... at least last I checked.

When the media says that she will be nominee, then she will be the nominee. PERIOD.

Who cares about supporters? It isn't so that they will have the opportunity to vote on Hillary.

[Michael Z]

Gore could defeat her, but he won't run precisely because he doesn't want to pick a fight with Hillary. Which is probably the same reason Warner has neglected to run.