Yep, lots of folks are already talking about it. And yes, I know that’s ridiculous. But here goes…
Of course, it would be wide-open in both parties, like in 2008. Which would have the political junkies ga-ga.
To start the conversation, I’ll share the list of 13 that Chris Cillizza has put together over at The Washington Post.
Republicans
Democrats
- Hillary Clinton
- Joe Biden
- Andrew Cuomo
- Martin O’Malley
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Elizabeth Warren
- Amy Klobuchar
Yeah, I’d never heard of a couple of those either. I think on some of them Cillizza was being deliberately esoteric.
Tell, you what. Let me save millions of dollars and a lot of hot air, and go ahead and narrow that down a bit. I won’t list by party, because I don’t care about party. In alphabetical order:
- Joe Biden
- Jeb Bush
- Chris Christie
- Hillary Clinton
Of course, now that I do that, I wonder about the names not on Cillizza’s list. No Mike Huckabee or Jon Huntsman? Oh, well.
Judging by some of the flakes that were contenders this year (or back in 2011, anyway), I imagine the actual list of contestants will be different from what anyone is predicting now…
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They’re even speculating over across the pond…
The Guardian is thinking about a second Clinton-Bush contest (Hillary and Jeb). They also mention some of the same ones as on Cillizza’s list, but add some he missed: Sherrod Brown, Scott Walker, Suzana Martinez and Ted Cruz.
Joe Bidden? Did someone misspell Alvin Greene?
You forgot to list Barak Obama in the Democrat list.
Had you heard of Barack Obama in 2004?
I note the absence of Nikkers from the list.
With all due respect to your forecast (predictably all Dems are lawyers) 4 years out, it is an incredible stretch.
Republicans may be dumb enough to recycle another Bush (no way electable unless they want to lose going in), or foist a fallen lawyer icon like Christie (the Obama-Sandy adulation thing), but the Dems would only be running the loyal clowns (Biden and Warren) for show; likewise Hillary’s attained age and health status just would not click with enough voters. As to Amy Klobuchar, I believe you may have unwittingly revealed an Obama mid-term appointment; otherwise even Al Franken might have more gravitas.
Please choose again with a bit more chess-like thoughtfulness than Salon.com.
Who do I consider more likely for the Dems? Well, you were correct in predicting another lawyer, and it will be Cuomo.
Biden and Hillary Clinton will be too old to run in 2016, moreover I’m certain Hillary wants no part of that circus again.
I saw a YouTube clip today that was an interesting commentary by Dennis Miller on the Bill O’Reilly show… not a regular viewer because I dumped cable/satellite tv a year ago (and don’t miss it). Just throwing this out there… I found it interesting at the end when O’Reilly asked what happens to the Democratic party if Obama can’t turn this downward spiral around… are they in trouble in four years if the direction can’t be changed? People here have already commented on the future of the Republican party if they don’t make changes.
Great, Cuomo as President and Sandra Lee as first lady. We go from gardens and healthy eating to Cool Whip and Kool-Aid mix based meals. But her speeches will be GRRRREEEAAATT. There’s only one reason men watched her cooking show… well actually two.
Biden will be 74 (not much older than McCain was in ’08); Hillary will be 69 (Reagan’s age when he was elected). Age is relative.
Age will likely factor out Biden and Clinton. Weight could be a factor for Christie and Huckabee. Fair or not voters do tend to view candidates by how attractive they are. Interesting that no one is mentioning Rick Santorum. Perhaps the GOP has had it’s fill of these cultural conservatives but still he was the runner-up this time around. At the end of the day the Dems will likely choose a surprise that no one is thinking about right now. After all they went with Carter, Clinton and Obama in recent years, all unknowns 4 years previous. The GOP will likely pick someone who is high profile right now. I’ll go with Jeb Bush or Chris Christie if he loses weight.
I agree with Juan about Chris Christie. The problem is that Christie was placed in a Catch-22 situation. There was no way he could win continued favor in NJ if he took the same approach Bloomberg did by refusing the president’s request to visit. Bloomberg knows he will never be a serious candidate beyond the city of NY and had nothing to lose.
Christie had to make a choice. Either look out for his state first or look to the future and consider his chances at running for the presidency. He chose his state and did what he felt he had to do by presenting himself as a serious bi-partisan and offering praise for the president. At the moment, he had to focus on the disaster at hand, not at some future event.
My other observation is that he may have been a little too effusive in his praise and when he admitted to shedding a tear when he was allowed to talk to Bruce Springsteen on the phone, my reaction was that it took the shine off of his non-political actions.
Jeb Bush, although a good, decent person – will never happen. He should never be on any list of serious candidates.
If he wants it, the candidacy will be Marco Rubio’s to decline on the Republican side and I think it will be someone not on the list for the Democrats. It is time for new blood from both sides to step up and take leadership roles but considering the mood of the country, they need to be willing to reach across the aisle in a meaningful way, not just for political opportunism.
Nikki Haley? snowball-hell-chance?
I’ve been a guest on Dennis Miller’s radio show a couple of times. Quite enjoyable.