For Hillary, Electability Now Equals Vulnerability Later

For her part, defeats in the early going could also undermine Hillary’s reputation for strength, a key asset for any woman seeking public office. If she shows weakness at the ballot box, it could translate into a perception of weakness in her persona, which might cost her even more votes in the subsequent primaries. Already, Hillary is flirting with disaster by maintaining so heavy a reliance on her husband. The more a wife needs her husband to boost her to victory or to handle her opponents, the more voters will impute weakness to her and wonder if she can stand alone as president.

Of course, Hillary has a real potential for a comeback. Bill’s characterization of an Obama victory as a “roll of the dice” may not do a lot to boost his wife’s chances now, when people expect Hillary to win. But if Obama prevails in the first few primaries, he will acquire a place in the sun at the cost of being in the spotlight. There, his inexperience will be widely debated and the ensuing dialogue might drive voters back to Hillary. It is hard to believe that voters, on sober second thought, would abandon Hillary and vote for a man whom they had never heard of until very recently.

Unless they finally see through Hillary, of course.