2008 Fever – Don’t Catch It Just Yet!
Answer: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rudy Guiliani, John McCain, and Barack Obama.
Question: Who are four people who are not going to be elected president in 2008?
Ignore the polls. At this early stage, the name recognition factor is always going to skew the results. As new faces emerge and old stalwarts define themselves anew, you’re going to be hearing a lot more names than just those four.
Note: The prediction above does not pertain to party nominations, vice-presidential selections, or future presidential elections. Nor does it predict who is going to be elected president. Right now, a Biden vs. Romney contest seems not entirely out of the question. Pataki had an unusually prominent spot in the 2004 Republican Convention, which is usually a tell. And Gore, if he decides to run, will likely be the automatic front runner among Democrats who are still sore from the 2000 election, and would be helped in the general election by swing voters with buyer’s remorse. Plus, he’s a movie star now, and we all know how helpful that can be.
But my whole point is that it’s way too early for this kind of speculation. All I can tell you right now is that none of the first four people I mentioned will be our next president. That’s my prediction, and I’m putting it in the blog.
I’ll also add a new category “Predictions” so if this blog lasts longer than next Wednesday, we can track my predictions and see how I’m doing.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Okay, for posterity: my prediction for next POTUS – Jeb. I know he says he won’t run; I know we Democrats are on something of an upswing; but I stand by it, not happily, but there it is: Bush Dynasty.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I’m not feeling Jeb. When GWB was more popular it made sense, but now the only ones sticking by him are the die-hards, and that’s not enough to win the dynasty the primary. I’m also not feeling Gingrich. I think he’s more moderate than his reputation, but it’s his reputation that matters. Look for Biden and Edwards to make a strong showing among Democrats, and Romney and Hagel to be strong Republicans. And, if they choose to run, Gore and Pataki both have to be taken seriously. And what does it say about Cheney that a sitting vice-president for eight years isn’t even part of this discussion?
But, again, it’s way too early to be doing this kind of speculating. I, for one, refuse to take any part in it.
January 10th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
So Shakespeare Teacher thinks it’s a little early to be so concerned about the 2008 presidential election? Would Mr. Teacher please forward his opinion to Wolf Blitzer and Tim Russert? Neither one appears capable of discussing anything else for more than 20 minutes.
January 10th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Make that 5 minutes!
January 11th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Well, I’m pretty sure Wolf Blitzer reads this blog on a regular basis. I don’t have any evidence of that, but why wouldn’t he?
As for Russert, I have one question for you BronxRichie: Are you planning to run for president in 2008? Are you sure? Can you say with 100 percent mathematical certainty that you won’t? So, you haven’t ruled it out?
Thanks for visiting, BronxRichie, and thanks for commenting. For the record, I don’t think it’s too early to be concerned with the 2008 election, just too early to speculate in any meaningful way about who it’s going to be. The news should cover who is running, but I agree with your observation that some news providers are disproportionately obsessed with it. Or they think we are, and they’re just pandering.
But the really sad thing is that when it does come time to look at the races closely, they’ll mostly be covering the horse race and not the important issues underlying the election. If I’m still around by then (the blog, not me personally), I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about both.