An early look at the 2016 Democratic presidential contenders

MATT ROURKE/AFP/Getty Images

Hillary Clinton

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Clinton's message in Mideast: Restore the calm

There's Hillary, and then there's everybody else. The secretary of state -- also a former senator and first lady -- who lost a bruising battle for the nomination to Mr. Obama in  2008 is such a force that she is already scoring 2016 endorsements. Early polls out of Florida, Iowa and New Hampshire all show Clinton as the clear favorite at this point, and the conventional wisdom is that if she decides to enter the race, it will be extremely difficult for another candidate to keep her from the nomination.

Clinton's decision to accept the secretary of state job in the administration of her former rival - and her tireless and well received performance as the nation's top diplomat - have only increased her appeal, and the fact that she would have popular former President Bill Clinton beside her on the campaign trail makes for a powerful potential one-two punch. The prospect of electing the first female president in American history would also galvanize support for Clinton.

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Obama salutes Clinton for her service

All this doesn't mean that Clinton will definitely become the nominee, however. For starters, she flatly maintains that she doesn't actually want the job - and her grueling schedule as secretary of state suggests she might be serious. Yet Clinton is expected to soon step down from her position, giving her ample time to recharge her batteries. And the fact that her husband maintains he has "no earthly idea" if she will run suggests she has not truly closed the door on the idea.

Another potential stumbling block is Clinton's center-left political ideology, which could clash with a Democratic Party that may be moving left -- as embodied by the 2012 victories of Senators-elect Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin and Chris Murphy. It's also possible that she will become consumed by some sort of scandal: It could very well have been Clinton, not Susan Rice, who made the early comments on the Benghazi attack that have landed Rice in hot water and threatened her potential nomination to succeed Clinton as secretary of state.

Ultimately, however, the nomination is widely seen as Clinton's for the taking. She would likely have a massive fundraising advantage over her rivals to go with reservoirs of goodwill she has built up in the years since she vowed on "60 Minutes" in 1992 that she is "not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette." If Clinton makes clear she will run, the big names in the potential 2016 Democratic field may simply decide to sit this one out.

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[thprop]

Howard Dean.................................

[Shibbol]

Patti Murray and Amy Klobuchar have accomplished a lot already. It's going to be a great field, and that can only strengthen whoever gets the final nod. Hillary's tough competition made President Obama's run against McCain a relative cakewalk.

[diddy_back_again]

Great. I wonder what sort of socialist ideas these people have. Nationalizing retirement funds? Government run dental plans? Mandating life insurance? 'Taxing' you if you don't buy a fuel efficient vehicle? I bet some of you think some of these are 'good ideas to build on'. After all, you voted for the Marxist.

[James-At-WhitesWillWin]

We CAN avoid this nightmare, folks. We only need the true AMERICAN majority to see that it's a matter of Self Defense of our values, our original American culture. I'm talking to members of the culture of our Founding Fathers. We created this country. We built this country. See the "Solution" page on my site. search my name above without the hyphens.

[FlashJohnson]

A bunch of America haters. Listen, if you want freedom, freedom to choose, freedom to decide for yourselves what you want to do with your life, steer clear of these wolves in sheep's clothing politicians who get elected by promising EVERYTHING. That's not what America is about, never was, never will be. Wake up and learn how your government works. Don't get your news from the talking heads and celebrities. Your future and your freedoms depend upon you and your kids getting smarter, real fast.

[Holly-wood]

An early look at the 2016 Democratic presidential contenders
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The nomination and the election are pretty much Hillary Clinton's, is she wants it

Biden is a nice guy but he's a gaffe machine and the butt of too many jokes, plus he'll be to old

Coumo is from NY. Guys from the northeast just don't do too well. Remember: Dukakis. Kerry, Romney...

Mark Warner would be a good candidate since he comes from a swing state and has experience as a governor AND a senator.

[Scimajor]

Isn't this like starting to put out the Christmas decorations in January? Well, except that Christmas is fun and elections are .... not fun.

All I can tell you is that it doesn't matter who the Dems. pick as long as the GOP decides to stick with the "Pander to the rich white male vote and screw everyone else" mentality.

[cydygitt2]

Hey folks, the most IRONIC part of the 2102 campaign, was romney's idiotic talk about the 47% supporting President Obama, when in reality, his final vote tally for this election, will be that same 47% -- meaning that only 47% of Americans supported the mormon cultist! LOL!

[Holly-wood]

That's right, check out the spreadsheet of Cook Political Reports David Waserman:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AjYj9mXElO_QdHpla01oWE1jOFZRbnhJZkZpVFNKeVE&toomany=true

Obama is now at 50.8% and Romney at 47.5%
Romney has steadily been going down as vote tallying continues. The guy who dissed 47% of the nation only got 47% of the vote. Now THAT is poetic justice.

[RollotheNorman]

Of course of the many ironic things in Willard's campaign, many of that 47% were actually his strongest supporters.

[cydygitt2]

MARYCHGO says: "A similar story published in 2000 or 2004 would never have seen Barack Obama coming. I suspect this summary omits at least a couple of the names we'll be seriously considering in 2015 and 2016...."

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I agree mary, and have to laugh at such racist comments like this by the highly-partisan and very polarizing infant:
"The white plantation owners of the Democrat Party have returned."

[marychgo]

A similar story published in 2000 or 2004 would never have seen Barack Obama coming. I suspect this summary omits at least a couple of the names we'll be seriously considering in 2015 and 2016....