The field of US Democratic presidential contenders was expected to grow even more Sunday after Senator Hillary Clinton dramatically reshaped the budding contest by entering the 2008 race.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary, is likely to announce that he is creating a presidential exploratory committee, according to people close to the Democratic Party. Richardson, a prominent Hispanic leader, will appear on ABC's "This Week" program that airs at 9:00 am (1400 GMT) Sunday. He said Friday he believed Congress needed to either put legal caps on the number of US troops in Iraq or to take other steps to stop the war.
"I have very firmly said the troops should be withdrawn this year, redeployed," Richardson told MSNBC television. Still, his announcement was expected to be overshadowed by reverberations from a bombshell dropped Saturday by the former first lady, whose long-awaited entry into the race opened up what promises to be one of the most exciting and groundbreaking political contests in US history. As it is shaping up, the race will be pitting Senator Clinton, determined to become the country's first female president, against fellow Senator Barack Obama, who aims to be the first African-American in the White House.
"I'm in. And I'm in to win," Clinton said in a video announcement on her website Saturday.
Four days before Obama signalled his own plan to fight for the nomination, saying he had formed a committee to test the waters and start raising money.
With their entry the field of confirmed Democratic hopefuls expanded to seven, still 12 months ahead of the first crucial state-based primary elections that will decide the Democratic and Republican party nominees who battle for the White House in November 2008.
Clinton, 59, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, ended years of speculation over her political ambitions with her announcement.
"The frontrunner has just stepped on the stage," said Washington's veteran political analyst Charlie Cook. "This is the first woman in our history who will be taken seriously by everyone," said political scientist Ruth Mandel of Rutgers University.
But while polls showed Clinton the odds-on favourite to capture the Democratic nomination next year, her continuing ability to divide voters meant that the race was still wide open with Obama, former senator John Edwards and others yet to commit to the race angling to demonstrate they have a better chance to defeat the Republican challenger.
In a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Saturday based on voters surveyed before her announcement, Clinton outpaced Obama 41 percent to 17 percent in the contest for the Democratic nomination.
Likewise, a Gallup poll taken a week ago put Clinton ahead with backing from 29 percent of Democratic voters, compared with 18 percent for Obama and Edwards at 13 percent.
But questions remain over whether Clinton, whose eight years as an untraditional first lady left a large swath of US voters cold, can defeat any politician the Republicans choose to fight for the White House.
A CBS NEWS POLL AT THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY POINTED TO HER BIG WEAKNESS: 38 percent of all voters, and a whopping 78 percent of Republicans, have decidedly unfavourable feelings toward Clinton, suggesting that in a country closely divided between the two parties she might not have the ability to woo the Republicans necessary for a decisive victory in 2008.
Indeed, a Newsweek poll released Saturday suggested that Edwards, the vice presidential running mate of John Kerry in their ill-fated campaign for the White House in 2004, could be the Democrats' best bet.
Asking voters their preference in certain matchups, Newsweek reported that Clinton, if she runs against Republican Senator John McCain, would narrowly come out ahead, 48 percent to 47 percent.
In an Obama-versus-McCain scenario, the Democrat carried 46 percent against McCain's 44 percent. But Edwards trumped McCain 48 percent versus 43 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.