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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I just love it when Michelle opens her mouth.... her idiot-ness just naturally comes gushing out.
Doesnt everyone understand that, now, before the primaries start the media microscope on what people say about the candidates, this is THE BEST TIME to make crap up that isnt true. If they can say Benghazi enough times, maybe they can make it into a label that means what they want it to mean, instead of what it really means – NOTHING AT ALL. Other than the fact that the REPUBLICAN CONGRESS CUT FUNDING TO THE STATE DEPT well before Benghazi happened. I lay Benghazi at the doorstep of the Republicans who voted to cut this funding!
If THIS John McCain had been running for prez in 2008, he may very well have won......but, NOOOOOO, the omnipotent GOP spin machine prevented us from getting to know what a true moderate he is (and stuck him with Palin). It was the same for Bob Dole several years ago (not that Dole is necessarily a moderate, but the post-election Dole that I remember seemed like a great guy)
John McCain just can't help himself – he so desperately wants to be loved by the major networks.
Hillary will win the election whenever it is, today or 2016!
Michelle Bachmann is an idiot and John McCain is right based on the offerings of the GOP Hillary would and should win by a landslide.
They arent today thank go you senile old buzzard. Hillary is the biggest threat to our country since this last idiot Obama was elected by the low-information morons.
Unfortunately for the GOP, they still don't seem to realize that as long as they force their candidates away from near the political center to the right, they have no chance of winning. As of now, I've seen no evidence they've learned that lesson despite losing the last two elections because of it. As of now, Christie is the only candidate they have who is not perceived as a righ-wing nutcase (whether true or not), and thus, the only one with a chance to win (unless he is found to have been complicit in Bridgegate – no indication of that yet). The only question now is not 'who will be the GOP candidate'. Rather, it is'will the GOP be able to adapt to reality before it becomes extinct?'
Sure she could win. The same clueless voters that voted for Obama could vote her in. They seem to like liars and joblessness
Yeah, well we've seen McCain's pick, Palin. Uh, yeah... Thanks John.
No way. People need to get some brains. Why would anybody want another corrupt liar?
Which world McCain is living in? During the period when Clinton was the Secretary of the State, she got nothing done and did not accomplish anything, except of US embassy attack which was under her watch...
This idiot is full of crapola !!!!
Bachmann only says the US is not ready for a female president because she lost. Her self esteem far out weighs her worth.
Hilary sucks
iceload
If we have to fill a quota can't we at least fill it with someone who will stand for the middle class like Elizabeth Warren?
February 21, 2014 12:41 pm at 12:41 pm |
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Me thinks faceload is more appropriate.
Everyone in America knows Hillary is our next President.
President Obama has had so much success (record stock market, 401k, killed Bin Laden, record deficit cuts), that he can simply pass the baton to another great progressive.
These are good times for America.
Some people are "not ready" for a female president? What is it about a president being female that upsets them so much? Is gender more important than qualifications? Are they members of an organization that does not allow woman to lead?
Perhaps the GOP is trying to rush ahead to the next election because of how badly their attempts to stop the current Administration have been. The soon Obama is a lame duck, the happier they will be.
The next president needs to be younger, agile, innovative and more transparent to the public. Clinton is none of the above.
As it stands right now, I agree with Senator McCain. The GOP currently does not have any candidate remotely capable of beating Mrs. Clinton. Is she a perfect candidate? No. No such thing. But she does have deeper relevant experience than anyone else thinking of running. Governor Christie would have been the GOP's best hope to beat her. But after all of the recent news concerning Christie, his political career just came to a screeching halt. As I have said so many times before, until the GOP changes their policies, their standing as a political party will continue to diminish. Changes is messaging will never change this reality, not one little bit.
Washed up moron turning sour because he's no longer of any consequence so he's taking his ball & going home. Can't wait for November.
Hillary is just another corporatist like the tea nuts, just with a difference stance on social issues. Don't fall for it.
HAs she grown enough Rhino skin? It seems like it is work in progress so far.
Of course Hillary would win POTUS in ** 2016**. The Republicons and Teabaggers have NO viable candidates to put into the arena. They have a lot of misfits, who entertain America with their ignorance plus the late night comedians just love the material they get. Hell with people like Perry, Bush, Jindal, Trump, Rand Paul, Ted "Fidel Castro" Cruz (LMAO) Paul Ryan, Sara "The Stupid One" Palin and whomever else they can scrape up off of the Outhouse floor will more than keep those late night comedians in material for years. Thanks for all the pleasure. No seriously, thanks...:-)