It's easy today to think that the election of Hillary Clinton to the office of President of the United States was inevitable in 2004, but that shouldn't be seen as the case. Even though she was seen as a potential candidate for President as early as 2003, Clinton has always maintained that she spent alot of time thinking about jumping into the race before she actually did, and most of those close to her back this up. Though she has never actually come out and said it, it is thought by a large amount of people that her reason for eventually getting into the race in November of 2003 was that was that she viewed most of the other Democrats who werer running as unable to win. This is probably true, since Howard Dean and John Kerry weren't thought to stand much chance against incumbent George W. Bush.
Even when Clinton did manage to surprise many and take the primary season by storm, her victory against Bush was far from uncertain. People forget that he had average approval rating of over 50% for pretty much all of 2003, and even parts of 2004. Even support for the US-Iraq War was higher than 50%, though it did appear to have been on a steady decline.Somehow, Clinton was able to make the case that the country was moving in the wrong direction under Bush, and that it needed to change course now before it was too late. People still argue about how she was able to win, some saying it was her solid debate performances, others her VP pick, and some even suggest that Bill Clinton's massive heart attack the day of her speech at the DNC was what sealed her victory.
Whatever the case, Hillary Clinton was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20th, 2005. But how would things have turned out if Hillary hadn't run for President in 2004? What other Democrat would have ended up with the nomination, and is their anyway that they could have been elected President? If not, what would a second term of George W. Bush look like? Any guesses on what might happen in '08 and '12?
Even when Clinton did manage to surprise many and take the primary season by storm, her victory against Bush was far from uncertain. People forget that he had average approval rating of over 50% for pretty much all of 2003, and even parts of 2004. Even support for the US-Iraq War was higher than 50%, though it did appear to have been on a steady decline.Somehow, Clinton was able to make the case that the country was moving in the wrong direction under Bush, and that it needed to change course now before it was too late. People still argue about how she was able to win, some saying it was her solid debate performances, others her VP pick, and some even suggest that Bill Clinton's massive heart attack the day of her speech at the DNC was what sealed her victory.
Whatever the case, Hillary Clinton was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20th, 2005. But how would things have turned out if Hillary hadn't run for President in 2004? What other Democrat would have ended up with the nomination, and is their anyway that they could have been elected President? If not, what would a second term of George W. Bush look like? Any guesses on what might happen in '08 and '12?