Clinton/Newsom in 2016?

A Fb friend seems to think so.

I'm totally behind it. Newsom was a great mayor.

I do, too, Plum. I'd vote for her without question if she did, but I've believed her when she's said she's not going to run again.

Updated On: 11/7/12 at 12:46 AM

I'd love any combination of Clinton, Cuomo, Booker or Newsom. I also love Elizabeth Warren, but she'll be a terrific senator.

Clinton/Corey Booker more like it.

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I think Martin O'Malley and Brian Schweitzer should be in the conversation for VP. Schweitzer would be my first choice.

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Newsom may not have a lot of experience, but he's done more for gay marriage, whether or not it was legal, than Obama has done. He married gay couples. I have friends who were married under Newsom.

That puts a huge plus on Newsom's resume.

"I think Martin O'Malley and Brian Schweitzer should be in the conversation for VP. Schweitzer would be my first choice."

And my governor O'Malley would be my first choice but I'll take either combo. I think the Dems would be wise to put a sitting governor on the ticket. And I still believe that the first woman elected POTUS will be a Republican former governor who can carry a band of states.

My GOP friends who wrote off Romney last year are salivating over a Jeb Bush/John Kasich or Jeb Bush/Susana Martinez ticket. Both tickets pack one helluva electoral college punch. Last count there were 29 GOP governors, 20 in the Dem column, and 1 indie. I don't see a Dem team beating Jeb Bush/John Kasich in 2016 based on my own amateur electoral college calculus.

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Thanks for the pointer, PJ. I peeped his blog; those #s don't bode well for any Dem team going up against Jeb Bush/John Kasich in 2016.

Kasich is a former Fox News mouthpiece who is loathed by liberals. That would make him a money-magnet for the GOP and a good counter to the moderate Jeb Bush. My prediction is that the GOP will outspend the Dems into oblivion in 2016 to flip FL, OH, and VA with Romney out of the way. His time came and went. Paul Ryan went along for the free ride.

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Saw Schweitzer on Bill Maher's show a month ago. He's telegenic, bright, ideally-aged, folksy, and comfortable in his own skin, the Dem answer to Huckabee, minus the strident evangelical dogma.

He's the ideal top-of-the-ticket Dem candidate!

Hopefully there are no skeletons in his closet.

Brian, a Schweitzer/O'Malley ticket would be very formidable.

The Dems will need to bring out the A-team in 2016 because there will be very little margin for error.

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Updated On: 11/8/12 at 09:42 AM

My prediction is that the GOP will outspend the Dems into oblivion in 2016 to flip FL, OH, and VA with Romney out of the way.

FWIW, even if FL, OH, and VA had all gone for Romney this time around, Obama would still have won with 272 electoral votes.

"FWIW", even if FL, OH, and VA had all gone for Rommey this time around, Obama would still have won with 272 electoral votes".

That's only a 2 vote spread which is too close for comfort. Add either PA or NM to the GOP column 4 yrs out and VP John Kasich or Susana Martinez will be sending mail to Jeb Bush at 1600 Penn Ave NW, Washington, DC.

"Not to mention, the GOP (and associated henchmen) 'outspent the Dems into oblivion' this year and still got spanked'".

They (the party bosses) half-heartedly put up a dud of a candidate simply because it was his turn at bat.

Obama was the beneficiary of good timing, inheritor of the Kennedy birthright by proxy, and is a masterful Chicago-style politician. It was his election (and reelection) to lose once he got past Hillary. It remains to be seen if any Dem upstart will generate the level of excitement that he (and Hillary to some extent) produced in the run up to the party's previous primary elections.

I wrote over 4 yrs ago that the Dem party is simply not big enough for the combined egos of the Kennedy and Clinton clans. Something had to give and it came in the form of an opportunist extraordinaire from Chicago whom I'm proud to call POTUS. His team masterfully helped him paint both Hillary and Mitt as two individuals who felt entitled to the presidency partly in response to his own resume being as thin as Gavin Newsome's and partly due to that being the perfect strategy to go against either Hillary or Mitt.

As a Libertarian I still lean a bit left on the social issues and solidly right on fiscal matters. I can only encourage the Dems to not grow overconfident about the next mid-term and general elections.

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Updated On: 11/8/12 at 07:53 PM

Meh, Newsom rubs me the wrong way. A little too John Edwards-y and I do not mean the refreshing Bobby Kennedy '68 friend of labor rhetoric.

What happened to Bev Perdue? I know she didn't run for re-election but what happened?

HRC, maybe this sounds too romantic for something as serious as a run for the presidency, but it is going to be hard for her to go quietly out of politics without a lot of her supporters demanding that she run one last time.

I definitely think Schweitzer, O'Malley, and even Deval Patrick are front-runners. If either of those three win the nomination, I do think they need a woman. Elizabeth Warren is sadly going to be a hard sell for really cynical reasons, plus I selfishly want her in the Senate forever pretty much. Gillibrand and Klobachur are people who come to mind as good choices for the party ticket.

Tim Kaine or Mark Warner might be talked about but many felt Warner missed his chance in 2008 and he flopped hard in the keynote in Denver. Kaine also took it on the chin as the DNC chair in 2010 and may in fact prove to be too moderate for 2016 party ID.

Julian Castro and Corey Booker need to successfully move to higher office besides Mayor. Booker needs to get Lautenberg's seat and Castro needs to get the Governorship of Texas.

Updated On: 11/8/12 at 10:06 PM