DBWI:Hillary Clinton Hadn't Run in 2004?

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?
 
Considering her four year tenure saw New Orleans all but abandoned after Katrina, her withdrawl from Iraq allowed Iran to take control of the nation, making them an even bigger danger to thw region and the world, the economy take a nosedive, and corruption scandals in Congress gave Republicans a filibuster proof majority in 2006 that has held to this day, about the only good thing Hillary did was get Dubya re-elected in 2008.

Odds are good, if she lost, or if a different Democrat had won, things would be much better off now.
 
Considering her four year tenure saw New Orleans all but abandoned after Katrina, her withdrawl from Iraq allowed Iran to take control of the nation, making them an even bigger danger to thw region and the world, the economy take a nosedive, and corruption scandals in Congress gave Republicans a filibuster proof majority in 2006 that has held to this day, about the only good thing Hillary did was get Dubya re-elected in 2008.

Odds are good, if she lost, or if a different Democrat had won, things would be much better off now.

Yeah but the Republicans will no doubt lose in 2012 because, well Bush has an approval rating of 31 percent, the economy is in the toilet with a 10% unemployment rating and neither Bush nor the Republican congress have done anything to help. If Vice President Pawlenty manages to win the Republican race over Romney, he's still gonna lose to either Feingold or Obama depending on which of those two wins the Democratic nomination.
Seriously, current polls puts Pawlenty/Feingold at 49/36, and Pawlenty/Obama at 45/39. So unless he (or Romney which is polling even worse) can pull a miracle out of his ass, 2012 is gonna be a massive Democratic landslide.
 
Last edited:
Yeah but the Republicans will no doubt lose in 2012 because, well Bush has an approval rating of 31 percent, the economy is in the toilet with a 10% unemployment rating and neither Bush nor the Republican congress have done anything to help. If Vice President Pawlenty manages to win the Republican race over Romney, he's still gonna lose to either Feingold or Obama depending on which of those two wins the Democratic nomination.
Seriously, current polls puts Pawlenty/Feingold at 49/36, and Pawlenty/Obama at 45/39. So unless he (or Romney which is polling even worse) can pull a miracle out of his ass, 2012 is gonna be a massive Democratic landslide.

Depending on what poll you're reading, it ranges from 31-43 percent, and the unemployment rate has finally started lowering from the 13% it was under Hillary. So don't count Pawlenty out just yet, let alone considering the Democratic nominee is looking like John Edwards.

OOC: I'm basically of the opinion that 2004-2010 is a period it would just suck to be President, no matter who is in power.
 
Depending on what poll you're reading, it ranges from 31-43 percent, and the unemployment rate has finally started lowering from the 13% it was under Hillary. So don't count Pawlenty out just yet, let alone considering the Democratic nominee is looking like John Edwards.

OOC: I'm basically of the opinion that 2004-2010 is a period it would just suck to be President, no matter who is in power.

OOC: Same here. Also, I already clearly established Feingold and Obama as the frontrunners for the Dem nomination.
 
OOC:I don't think the OP was ASB...

OCC:
No, but it's not really a DBWI either. A DBWI is supposed to relate to an alternate world in which OTL event "X" did not occur and ask what if "it" did occur. Hillary Clinton was not a candidate, nor did she consider running for the democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

Here are two DBWI examples:
= DBWI:Nixon had joined in a cover-up of the Watergate burglary rather then firing those involved in its planning (when he was informed of it afterwards). What would the ramifications have been for the presidency and for the G.O.P.?

= DBWI:president Hillary Clinton had lost the 2008 Democratic nomination to Barak Obama? Might Hillary be selected as Obama's runningmate? Would Obama have defeated McCain (and let's presume that he still chooses Pawlenty as his runningmate)? Would Hillary, if she's not chosen to be OLbama's runningmate serve in his cabinet?

Regarding this thread,
asking "WI Hillary Clinton had entered the 2004 presidential election? Would she have won the Democratic nomination? Would she have won the November election?" might have sparked a more thoughtful and realistic discussion.
 
OCC:
No, but it's not really a DBWI either. A DBWI is supposed to relate to an alternate world in which OTL event "X" did not occur and ask what if "it" did occur. Hillary Clinton was not a candidate, nor did she consider running for the democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

OOC: Actually, yes she did, at least according to Game Change.
 
Top