Hillary buzz getting louder

I wrote in June the the Ice Princess is more popular than Mr. Cool and forecast (more than actually predicted) that Hillary would make her last run for the White House in 2012.

If the November House and Senate elections turn out to be the Democrat train wreck that politicos of both parties say it will be, Hillary will resign from Secretary of State effective the first or so of 2011. Magically, her book about international politics and her experience as secretary will hit the shelves before Labor Day. She'll already have formed her presidential race exploratory committee by then and the full campaign apparatus will be in place by the end of October. The 2012 Iowa caucus will be in early January as usual and the Hillary 2012 train will be in full steam.

2012 is, effectively, Hillary's last chance. In 2016 she'll turn 69 just before election day. Only Ronald Reagan has been elected at that age level; Hillary surely recalls that Bob Dole and John McCain, each with extensive government experience and both bona fide war heroes and only a little older, were rejected by the electorate.

Since June the Dems' outlook has only gotten worse. Says Dick Morris:

The magnitude of the catastrophe facing the Democratic Party in the fall elections is only gradually becoming clear to the leaders of both parties. The Democrats will lose both the Senate and the House. They will lose more House seats in 2010 than the 54 they lost in 1994 and they will lose the Senate, possibly with some seats to spare.

In state after state, the races that were once marginal are now solidly Republican, those that were possible takeaways are now likely GOP wins and the impossible seats are now fully in play.

Now other commentati are getting into the act, such as Newsweek's Michael Hirsh:

[T[he once defeated Democratic candidate may have, at present, the most promising political prospects of just about anyone in the administration, specifically including her boss, Barack Obama. ...

A lot of new political talk is also swirling around Clinton, for the very reason that her boss is in such deep political doo-doo at the moment and she looks relatively popular. Much of the talk focuses on whether she will end up swapping jobs with Joe Biden—who always wanted to be secretary of state anyway—and take the No. 2 spot on an Obama ticket in 2012.

Veep? Mayhaps. But Hillary wants to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office, not next to it. Besides, as I wrote,

2012 is, effectively, Hillary's last chance. In 2016 she'll turn 69 just before election day. Only Ronald Reagan has been elected at that age level; Hillary surely recalls that Bob Dole and John McCain, each with extensive government experience and both bona fide war heroes and only a little older, were rejected by the electorate.

And, except for the recent example of George H.W. Bush, vice presidents' track records in moving up one job slot are pretty poor.

Besides, the Veep's job is almost wholly political domestically, while the SecState (along with the SecDef) is by firm tradition involved only in international politics. In 2012, the Republicans cannot claim that Hillary's fingerprints are all over Obama's signature, yet most unpopular achievements. A term as Veep would mark her as an Obaman forever. She must know this.

There may even be glimmers of support for a Hillary candidacy across trhe aisle. Republican columnist S.E. Cupp writes, "Many moderates would support the secretary of state."

Sure, I'm a Republican who can hardly be trusted to offer objective advice to Democrats I've long lambasted. But believe me when I tell you, two years of Obama has even me seeing Clinton in a much different light than in 2008, when I thought the only thing worse than a new President named Obama was another one named Clinton. ...

To be clear, I'll most likely vote Republican in 2012. But Obama's lackluster performance has suddenly made Clinton an attractive option for frustrated Democrats and independents. Add to that group of disaffecteds Clinton's famously rabid supporters, and we might start seeing Clinton 2012 bumper stickers soon.

That Hillary is distancing herself from her boss is Tunku Varadarajan's opinion, based in part on her recent address to the Council on Foreign Relations.

In the 20 months since this administration began administering (a verb I use only in the loosest sense), the speech Wednesday morning by Hillary Clinton, delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations, was the first time we have been given an unreserved lift of the heart by any of its members. It was, by far, the best speech of this administration. Whereas her president has frequently wrung his elegant hands, doing the rounds of the world to reassure foreign leaders that America is a cuddly bunny at heart, the secretary of State declared Wednesday that we are all living “a new American moment—a moment when our global leadership is essential.” There was no bowing from her to potentates in robes; there was, instead, a promise that “we will do everything we can to exercise the traditions of American leadership at home and abroad.” ...

Clinton used phrases like “American might,” words that we are more accustomed to hearing from Republicans—words that we’ve come to believe that many Democrats can’t bear to voice. How refreshing, therefore, that she should reach into a vocabulary of pride that most American citizens would applaud. ...

What is so piquant here is not the fact that Hillary understands that Obama is president. It is the growing sense that Hillary would have made a much, much better president than Obama.

But is the country ready for another Clinton to occupy the Oval Office? Well, I put it this way just a few days ago: