Clinton wins meaningless S.C. straw poll, starts picking curtains for Oval Office

The author of the article seems to view it as a surprise that Hillary Clinton won a South Carolina straw poll for the Democratic nomination in 2008. It shouldn't be. Hillary has by far the greatest name recognition among the current "potential" candidates, and certainly the longest history with straw poll voters. Anyway, Howard Dean can tell you all about the importance of leading in early polling (sometime after he finishes insulting the intelligence of half the voting population).

There were a couple of other interesting bits in the article. One straw poll voter said that once Hillary "stops playing ‘centrist’ and becomes the leader she is capable of being, she will be the first woman president in U.S history." This is emblematic of a common delusion among the activist wing of the Party: that being really liberal will help a Democrat get elected President. That will play well in the southern and midwestern states that we need to win in 2008 to have a hope of reaching 270 electoral votes. I'm sure Louisiana and Ohio voters were saying to themselves in 2004, "If only Kerry was more liberal, I'd vote for him, but he's not, so I'll vote for George Bush instead." Right. Hillary's moves to center in recent years have given me a little hope that she could actually be elected, but abandoning this course would doom even that slim chance. Nominating a Northeastern Democrat would be a foolish move; nominating a liberal Northeastern Democrat would be an unmitigated disaster.

Also, the author got the name of my guy in the race, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, wrong, calling him "John Warner," who is of course the respected Republican Senator from Virginia. A common mistake, but still discouraging. Gov. Warner really needs to increase his name recognition, and paint himself as the true successor to Bill Clinton: a moderate Southern governor who could actually win the election, instead of simply making liberal elites feel good about their choice of candidate. Nonetheless, I still hold out hope for my dream ticket, Warner/Landrieu 2008.