But with George W Bush constitutionally limited to two terms and Vice-President Dick Cheney making clear he will not run, the race for the White House is wide open for the first time since 1928. 
Election Day - 4 Nov 2008 - may feel to outsiders like it is a long way off, but the first debates have already been held and campaigning is well under way.
And with experts predicting it will be the first $1bn election, the candidates - in what is an unusually crowded field - are focused on raising money and winning support in key states.
Here are the people presently considered the most capable of making a serious run.
| DEMOCRATS |
Who is she? The first former First Lady to go on to hold elected office, she is now serving as senator for New York. Declared her intention to stand with a video saying "I'm in to win" on her website on 20 January 2007 - two years to the day before the next president is inaugurated.
Why take her seriously? Unbeatable name recognition and serious fundraising ability make Hillary - no surname necessary - a clear front-runner for the Democrats. She has tried to stake out a position as a centrist in her six years in the Senate. She has reported $26m in fundraising from the first quarter of 2007 - a record-breaking amount - and added $10m from her 2006 Senate campaign fund into the pot. 
What is going to stand in her way? If Bill Clinton remains a divisive figure in American politics, that goes at least double for Hillary - some estimates say one in three Americans would never vote for her. And the US has never yet elected a woman president. Her fundraising efforts have not been enough to shake off close rivals, notably Barack Obama.
Did you know? Is there anything we do not already know about Hillary Clinton?
0 comments:
Post a Comment