I think I’ve already proven once today that math is not my strong suit — and neither, for that matter, is politics — but indulge me for a moment as I openly muse about both. Feel free to let me know if I get neither of them right.
Let’s assume that Barack Obama wins the Presidency. And let’s assume he picks someone other than Hillary Clinton as his running mate. Whether they are in office for one or two terms, it will be 2016 before another Democrat than Obama will have the nomination. (Unless there’s some strange circumstances under which the Democrats would hand the 2012 nomination to someone other than the sitting President.) If Obama serves two terms, chances are his VP will get the nod in 2016. If that VP loses, a Democrat will have a chance again in 2020, but if that VP wins, the next shot won’t be until 2024, when the Democrats will likely support whoever the sitting VP is at that time. And if that VP isn’t Hillary Clinton…
I’m just saying. In 2020, Hilary Clinton will be 73; she will be 77 in 2024. Think about all the bad press and jokes about John McCain’s age we’ve seen this election cycle. He’s 72. Even if age wasn’t a factor — either in reality or in the voting public’s mind — that’s an awfully long time to wait for the Presidency, especially for someone who seems as bound and determined to win it as Hillary Clinton does.
She has to recognize by now that the 2008 nomination is lost to her. Her best chance of becoming President, then, is to either be Obama’s running mate in this election — so she can run again in 2016 — or help ensure Obama’s defeat — so she can run again in 2012.
That, or leave the party altogether and run as an Independent in 2008. But that’s just crazy talk…right?