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The Sucker Bet for '08: Hillary

The Passion of the Clinton

Aiiiggghh! (hogwild.net)

As if the beaming mugs of triumphal Bushmen were not enough to bear so soon on the heels of the election, now comes the inevitable Hillary talk. The website Readabet.com lists her as the favorite to win the Big House in '08 at 5-1 odds; Rudy Giuliani is second at 15-2.

I rarely give financial advice at Bush Wars, but personally I'd be comfortable betting against her at those odds. Bush on his most unpopular day has not been as polarizing a figure as Hillary Clinton, and she will never occupy the White House. Her insuperable liability is that she excites an arch reaction from cultural conservatives who suppose her to be liberal and uppity, while she is in fact neither and hence cannot call upon the loyalties of any avid backers to counter her opponents' numbers and zeal. (Here's a side bet you should take as well, if you can find it: She would certainly not win the women's vote. Never mind all the working class women who don't like her; she is not even very popular among white middle-class feminists anymore, as the Village Voice reported last year.) Her "base" consists of the most blinkered segment of the Dem intelligentsia, the element that is still bedazzled by Bill or convinced that all the party needs is a star to head its ticket.

I'm not sure any of the above fatally injures her chance of being the nominee, however. Look at the field: John "Cat Got My Tongue" Edwards and the rest. Do you suppose Joe Lieberman sees another big opening?   

Posted by Steve Perry at November 12, 2004 8:56 AM

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