After Jon Stewart gave Crossfire a lashing for being too divisive last October, Tucker Carlson was canned from CNN, but landed on his feet with his own show on MSNBC. The bowtie made the move, too.
The format is lot more low key than Crossfire. He has two sidekicks, one liberal and one conservative, and they attempt to be reasonable and play nice. Man, that Jon Stewart is one powerful dude.
One of the issues that they calmly discussed last night was the probability of Hillary in ’08. The conservative sidekick thought it was likely and that she had a shot at winning election. The liberal said, Wouldn’t you like that, scumbag? and threw a sucker punch. The conservative ducked the punch and administered a swift wedgie to the liberal. Yes, it’s very civilized on Tucker’s new show.
So, the question of the day is does Hillary have a chance and would you vote for her?
UPDATE: Stats from The Atlantic Monthly on this topic.
Apt. 11d 
I’d definitely vote for her, I think she rocks. But does she have a chance? Not so sure. A lot of people really hate her (unfairly, I think).
LikeLike
I think she has a fair-to-poor chance, depends partly on how badly the Reeps shoot themselves in the feet in the next 3 years. 80% of the voters said they were willing to vote for a woman for president – that’s not so good, that means to nominate her is to throw away 20% of voters. On the other hand, I kind of think a lot of those 20% are Reep-inclined voters in the first place.
The other problem is, the Reeps’s best candidate is Jeb. If they nominate him against anybody else, the dynasty issue is a killer. If they nominate him against Hillary, it goes away.
LikeLike
Well, living in a non swing state (California), it’s pretty likely I’m going to cast my vote for the libertarian candidate or someone similar. I voted for Harry Browne in 2000, and then wrote-in a vote for Tyler Cowen in 2004. Although I blogged in favor of Kerry (well, really mostly against Bush), so I could also endorse Hillary.
But that depends on who runs against her. And if McCain wins the primary, I’m voting for him no matter what. Campaign finance reform is my core issue.
I think she has a decent chance. She has the ability to win over some of those who’ve demonized her. And if she gets the lion share of the women vote, that 20% probably won’t matter much. But I’m really bad at predictions.
LikeLike
All I can think is “Poor Chelsea.”
All these campaigns and scandals and public love/hatred of her parents….and no siblings with whom to bitch about it all.
I’m still hoping for Russ Feingold. Of course, the “divorced Jew from Wisconsin” thing might not pull so well in the swing states.
LikeLike
My reading of “The Clinton Strategy” over the last couple of years was they were trying to be kingmakers in the hope that a Democratic President, newly elected with their help, would pay off the favor by appointing her to the Supreme Court. It’s very difficult for the Senate to not confirm a sitting Senator. But even if that was the case, the opportunity has now passed (unless Rehnquist defies all prognostication), so perhaps they’re thinking of a Presidential run.
Still, she has her 2006 re-election campaign first. I’m sure there will be lots of out-of-state money going towards campaigning against her, whoever her opponent turns out to be. So it’s not something she can ignore.
How well she does, especially upstate, against such an expected negative campaign may well determine whether she can run nationally against similar tactics (the equivalent of the Swift Boat Vets, perhaps).
I doubt that Hillarycare will be usable against her. The health care system has degenerated since then and she can use that degeneration against those who attacked her plan (she does now in her New York stump speeches: “GM’s become a health care company that makes cars”).
But we are, after all, three plus years out from the 2008 election. And a week is a long time in politics.
LikeLike
I don’t know, I always vote democrat, but I do not like HC. I just can’t get warm to her. I will probably vote for her if she’s the candidate, but it will be another lesser of two evils. As usual! Why can’t I get excited by a candidate anymore? What will 2008 bring?
LikeLike
I would vote for her, but I don’t think she has a chance. I wish she would stay in the senate where can be a progressive voice.
LikeLike
She’s my senator. I like her. I’m upstate, and she has really paid more honest attention to upstate needs and concerns than most other NY state politicians.
And I liked her before she was my senator.
Its interesting, the number of voters here who do like her – more than I would expect. However, she carries the Clinton baggage, in the form of a lot of mouth-foaming, teeth-gnashing, vein-poppling apoplectic fits of hatred from some quarters. I think the number of people who will hate her just for who she is and who she’s married to is big enough that putting her up for election at the national level is a pretty big risk for the Dems. I honestly think that in the next election she has an icebergs chance in hell of overcoming that. And that’s too bad.
LikeLike
I had always assumed (wrongly?) that the first woman to have a shot at the Presidency would have to be Veep first. And while I would not personally have much of a beef with Hilary as Veep, it seems like she brings so much baggage (unfairly or not) to any campaign that 2008 would not be the best year for her.
I really don’t trust my judgement of the electorate since 2004, I have to say, so her chances are hard for me to gauge. I *hear* a lot of support for her online and in polls; I also hear some truly amazing amounts of vitriolic hatred thrown her way. I have no idea which is stronger.
LikeLike
Hillary, like her husband, is a centrist-Democrat, and while the Clinton name may draw hatred and contempt from the Republican Party — and that is a good thing — the fact of the matter is, she and Bill are both *more* conservative then either ideology is willing to portray them as being.
I’m very excited by Delaware’s Joe Biden announcement that he’s interested in running — I could enthusiasticly get behind him. Gosh, my spelling is atrocious today!
LikeLike
Thanks, guys. I have no idea what will happen or what her chances are, so I appreciate your feedback. Last November, I thought that a Hillary candidancy was a VERY bad idea. But, in NY, people love her. Republicans don’t hate her, because she hasn’t been a bad senator. She’s brought in a lot of money for the city post 9/11 and has played nicely with local Republicans. Even the upstate Republicans like her, as Sara pointed out. So, now I don’t know. Interesting stuff.
LikeLike
I think she has (one of) the same problems that Kerry had: she will get killed in the South, except for Florida. She may be moderate by New York standards, but not by North Carolina’s.
It is possible for a Democrat to win without some of the Southern states, but very hard.
Her best hope is the same as the Democrats best hope in general. The economy goes down hill in a big way, and the Republican running gets the blame for it.
LikeLike