Here we go. Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Like nobody knew that was coming, but she went ahead and made an announcement on her website anyway. And, OK, so it's just an exploratory committee. That's like first base, and you can't get to second unless you get to first first. If you're interested, you can listen to her announcement HERE.
In the interests of fair play, here are the websites for the other top Democratic contenders - John Edwards and Barack Obama. The list also includes Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Tom Vilsack. Apologies if I missed anyone. It's getting difficult to keep track. Republican Sam Brownback also announced today.
Anyway, some observations:
1. Should Hillary get elected, and should she serve two terms, it will mean that for a 28 year period, the President of the US will have come from one of two families - Bush or Clinton. The Clintons will have a 4-3 edge in terms of terms.
2. Hillary is branding herself as "Hillary" as opposed to "Clinton." The banner on her website is "Hillary for President" not "Clinton for President." I suppose that makes sense in order to distinguish herself from her husband. But, it raises questions. For instance, assuming again that she gets the nomination, she'll have to choose a running mate, let's say Fred Jones. Will the bumper stickers say "Hillary/Fred '08" or maybe "Clinton/Jones '08" or will they mix and match and go for "Hillary/Jones '08"? Hmmm. I'd say A or B, but not C.
3. I expect a Hillary candidacy will put NEPA in the national spotlight once again. Not only is PA a coveted swing state, but Hillary has ties to Scranton (her father was born there and is buried there. The family also has a cabin in the area. Could Lake Winola be the new Crawford?). Joe Biden also has ties to Scranton (he was born there and lived in Scranton until his family moved to Delaware when he was about 11). So, I expect to see Hillary (and Bill) and Joe in NEPA at least as much as we saw John and John and George and Dick in '04.
This oughtta be fun.