Hillary's 50-50 Shot At Presidency

Some Say Deeply Divided Electorate Gives Clinton Even-Money Chance

(CBS) 
Clinton has also taken two high-profile trips to Iraq – journeys that may have helped to strengthen the credentials of a senator with no military background or experience.

"Her Senate actions look to shore up Democratic weaknesses: national security, religion and social issues, while holding to the party mainstream on economic issues," said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution.

"This isn’t a matter of altering positions. She’s been consistent on this," Mann added.

Clinton consistently votes Democratic on most social issues – she regularly racks up 90-plus ratings on the scorecards of liberal groups like Americans for Democratic Action, NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign.

If there has been a shift to the right, its most publicized moment came when she referred to abortion as "a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women" while addressing a crowd of the pro-choice faithful in Albany, N.Y., on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

The speech prompted columnists, analysts and fellow members of Congress to raise a collective eyebrow. Even New York Rep. Pete King, a Republican with whom Clinton has an amiable relationship (he was the one cracking "Hillary for Pope" jokes) said her words commanded attention.

"It was a different tone on abortion; more muted, almost apologetic," he said, followed by, without a beat: "I have no doubt she's running for president."

In the Senate, Clinton often chooses to work with the Democratic Party’s self-appointed conscience, Joe Lieberman. And in March, she crossed party lines to team up with conservative Sen. Rick Santorum to call for legislation that would study the effects of violence in the media on children.

The official line on all this is that Clinton is looking no farther than her Senate re-election.

"People tend to speculate about her aspirations, but she's keeping her eye on the ball, and that's November of 2006," said Clinton advisor Howard Wolfson. He referred to all the chatter about a Clinton reappearance in the White House as "background noise."

But Clinton, who says she’s "always been a praying person," seems to be moving into the territory John Edwards had hoped to claim as the moderate Democrat who cares about average Americans.

As a result, there's a fairly widespread feeling that Clinton's brand of liberal lite may play well in swing states she'll need to capture in order to defeat the GOP candidate.

And a number of political strategists think there's a decent chance Clinton can pull it all off.

Joe Trippi, a veteran Democratic consultant, shares the popular idea that all of Clinton’s cards are in order for the Democratic nomination.

"If she decides to go [for the party nomination], she’s got a great chance of going the whole way," Trippi said.

Trippi said it simply wouldn't make much sense for Clinton not to capitalize on her own political momentum. And if she does, the presidency would be a toss up.

"The rule is, if you can get the nomination for a major party for president of the United States, you run. That’s not something you walk away from," he said. "Given how polarized this country is right now, it’s a 50/50 proposition."