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Joe Scarborough's political predictions for 2007
Scarborough predicts the fate of presidential hopefuls in the upcoming year
The Year of the Sneer Golly, it was a mean year, punctuated by as nasty a political campaign as you could ever imagine. MSNBC’s Alex Johnson sums it all up in his annual Year in Review. |
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD |
What kind of year was 2006? What will 2007 be like? NBC News correspondents and anchors examine the past year in the areas they cover — and offer predictions for the next 12 months. ___________________________________ |
Even before the final votes were tallied in the 2006 elections, politicians started lining up for the 2008 presidential sweepstakes. Without further ado, let me kill Hamlet in the first act and tell you how your favorite candidate will fare over the next 12 months.
THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama
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Joshua Lott / Reuters Barack Obama |
Yeah, right.
Barack Hussein Obama is more Johnny Bravo than John Kennedy. The vest fits and the fans scream while DC’s star-maker machinery shifts into overdrive.
Like Peter Brady’s Bravo, Obama’s shot at the top will be short lived. But since BHO is young enough, dynamic enough and (just) black enough to whip official Washington into a frenzy, expect this stupid story to stick around for a while. Soon enough though, this year’s model will be shouting, “Please give a warm Chicago welcome to the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton!”
Hillary Clinton
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Kathy Willens / AP Hillary Clinton |
Ms. Clinton has completed six ruthlessly efficient years in the U.S. Senate and avoided even a whiff of scandal since Bubba moved to a separate zip code. But that doesn’t mean the problematic ex-president won’t be her campaign’s chief asset. Time and again throughout the next few years, Bill Clinton will make the difference on fundraising, networking and strategy. And 2007 will show that any politico who dares to cross Team Clinton risks being crushed into dust.
Even Richard Nixon would be proud.
Al Gore
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Jeff Chiu / AP Al Gore |
Florida, the heartbreaking loss, the brooding, the beard, the beefsteak, the crème brulee, the screaming speeches, the rack of lamb slathered in gravy, the braised pork loin, the movie that says we’re screwed in like two weeks, and the feeling that if you were stuck on a transatlantic flight with the former vice president, Gore would start gnawing on the fatty part of your arm if cabin service were delayed due to turbulence is almost enough to make you believe this man is unfit to serve ice cream let alone the country.
But while Gore may be built like a rhino, he’s crazy as a fox.
Click for related content |
The man who won the most popular vote in 2000 was alone among political heavyweights in his early attacks on the president’s war. And he once again became a hero to environmentalists with "An Inconvenient Truth." Young voters, liberal activists and angry Democrats seem more excited about Al Gore’s shot at the White House in 2008 than they ever were in 2000.
Forget Barack Obama. He’s child’s play. If anyone can beat Hillary Clinton, it is her rival from White House days, Albert Gore, Jr.
Gore will feel growing pressure to save the party from Hillary Clinton. If his biggest contributors from 2000 line up, he will run. But let’s just hope he curbs his appetite by 2008, for the sake of his image and our arms.
The other Democrats
Joe Biden, John Edwards and Tom Vilsak are all hoping to be the Anybody-But-Hillary candidate after the first few primaries. But expect 2007 to be rough sledding for these three and the rest of the Democratic field since the only way they will break from the pack is a strong showing in Iowa or New Hampshire the following year.
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