McCain: If election were tomorrow, Clinton would be president
(CNN) - Sen. John McCain predicted if voters headed to the polls for the 2016 elections tomorrow, Hillary Clinton would be most likely be elected president - though the former secretary of state wouldn't be his pick.
Asked by CNN's Piers Morgan on Thursday about 2012 Republican presidential candidate and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann's recent assessment that America isn't ready for a female president, McCain said they have a different reading on the current political landscape.
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"I would bet, my friend, as much as I hate to admit it, that right now – this is why we have campaigns – but right now, if the election were tomorrow, Hillary Clinton would most likely be the president of the United States," the Arizona Republican said.
"She wouldn't be my candidate," he added, but pointed to growth in the number of women in the Congress and state officials as evidence to the contrary of Bachmann's judgment.
Clinton has yet to announce that she's running for president in 2016, but that hasn't stopped Republicans from preemptively attacking her record in preparation for another Clinton White House bid.
Bachmann told syndicated columnist Cal Thomas that a lot of people “aren’t ready” for a woman to be president when asked about Clinton’s appeal as potentially the first female commander in chief.
“I think there was a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt," she told Thomas. “People don’t hold guilt for a woman...I don’t think there is a pent-up desire (for a woman president.)"
A CNN/ORC poll conducted from January 31 through February 2 showed Clinton as the overwhelming favorite as Democrats' choice for a 2016 presidential nominee. That same poll shows Clinton ahead of potential Republican White House contenders like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has said he won't launch another bid for the White House but is considering running for a sixth term in the Senate.
CNN's Mary Grace Lucas contributed to this report.
Watch Piers Morgan Live weeknights 9 p.m. ET. For the latest from Piers Morgan click here.
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Smack Dab you don't have any idea what you are talking about. Capitalism is just the private ownership of corporations which operate in a free market. The problem is that no corporation in the world works, or even wants to work, in a free market. If that were true we wouldn't have companies colluding to fix prices on products and services such as Books, or have monopolies forming in areas such as the media, or have so many ridiculous protectionist laws that favor single companies, not a free market. Somehow touting up capitalism as a good thing by itself is moronic. American has never in its history had a purely free market so by definition has never been a truly capitalistic society. So stop spouting nonsense. Most of what people like you are arguing is that the 1800's were a great time for business and we should return to it. They were not however a great time for most Americans, only a very few people, so why should most people want to return to corporate slavery. So in summary to return your insult you spouted at Bid D all of you idiots who thing that keeping government out of business is somehow going to make the world better are really living a pink hued dream.
Senator McCain or should I say Mr." Paul Revere " McCain The Clintons are coming, The Clintons are coming
So according to Bachmann, the reason Obama was elected twice was because more than half the country felt guilty for not electing a black man sooner........they're Republicans and they aren't kidding, they really mean some of the nonsense they say. And they still can't figure out why they don't get elected.
Bachmann has not had ANY credibility for a long time. Why would anybody even bother to quote her? McCain at least says things that randomly make sense once and a while.
Between this article and the one on Ted Nugent, recent news must be really slow.
On presidential politics, I love to quote a recent poster on a similar article:
"The next Republican president hasn't been born yet."
Go Hillary!
At least gays and hispanics will vote Democrat this time. The GOP is the party of hate.
Even McCain can see how pathetic the GOP has become. Pretty bad when they won't change their message with loss after loss. They still have not made up any ground against the Democrats...sad
no conservative would suport McCain unless that is the only choose available – as happened with Mitt
Dream on ("What does it, at this time, matter") Hillary Dumbocrats! I am a life-long Democrat but I would not vote for for traitor Hillary even if my life depended on it!!!
Updated news piece: "Obama's Satan look-alike cut": HE, presently continues to sponge off the Américan people and HE and Moochie are living happily ever after at the Américan's White House...
Being an Independent Moderate, if she ends up being the nominee for the Democrats in 2016, and Republicans either have another Bush or someone just as polarizing like McCain or flip flops like Romney, I will be just doing a fill in and throw my vote out, as I feel her day of usefulness has come and gone. Time for some new blood to lead our country.
He probably thought he would win in '08, too. I don't think his credibility is too good.
Big_D is right. I left the Republican party in 2007 for that reason. However, I am sorry to say, he probably thinks the democrats have it all figured out. Wrong. Trying to introduce socialism into a free market (socializing health care while free market sets the price – causes mixed signals in prices) is just as bad if not worse than trickle down economic. If we want things to get better, we have to stop voting for these two parties. The parties of take all our money and spend it as they see fit for our security.
Our, you can do what I do, sit back, and try to prepare for the inevitable.
Interesting, I live in a "red" state and suspect McCain could not elected here for dog catcher. If he wants to be the elder statesman, he better find a party join, Republican is not for him.
Republicans already are already churning up the mud slinging machine on Clinton.....probably because as the "Party of NO", its there only hope. Hint to those over at Republican Central......come up with some ideas on how to deal with issues of the day.....such as rising health care costs....illegal immigration....deficit spending......and of course jobs for the next generation.......rather than the old angry white male ideology
If she were running against McCain she would certainly win. I repsect John McCain for his service in Vietnam, other than that I have no respect for him whatosever. He was the worst candidate for president in recent memory wich has to make Modale feel good about himself.