"Or do Bob Dole and George H. W. Bush now count as Hillary Clinton victories?"

Hilarious. Thanks.

Really.  Brilliant.  Listen, I think Hillary is a brilliant person, but shouldn't the very fact that this bumbling gaffe-clown keeps a job show that she doesn't have the judgement to be President?

There isn't the slightest reason to believe that Hillary has anything more than a high intellect.  You know, top ten in her class sort of thing.  Brilliant? Hardly.  If you have ever heard Bill speak extemporaneously to a small group, you know the difference between brilliant and Hillary.  She's not in the same galaxy as he is.  It's even worse when she speaks after him.  Never-the-less, this meme, that she is brilliant, continues to circulate without a bit of evidence to support it.  What brilliant thing has she ever done or said?

Well, Rick Lazio is still a heckuva lot stronger challenger than Alan Keyes.  Zeesh, any Dem who wasn't a certified psychotic could have beat Alan Keyes (especially in 2006 blue state Illinois).  

But is there actually any correlation between previous local electoral opposition and future national success? DIscuss: Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton. And what "tough" elections had FDR ever won before 1932?

lymon,

Yep, and my 7 year old son is a lot string than my 3 year old, so my recent arm wrestling championship against him means a lot.

FDR's 1928 election for Governor was darn close: He got caught up in the 1928 Hoover landslide vs. Al Smith (who lost NY, his home state, by more than 100,000 votes).  FDR won by 25,000 votes out of 4.5 million cast in NY.    By 1930, he turned that into a majority of some 730,000 votes over his closest competitor, a 56.49% to 33.6% win.  FDR's been both politically tested and strongly reelected.  Ike, of course, had never run for office, but could have probably won election to any office by a huge majority thanks to his popularity and reputation.  Lincoln gained a national reputation with a tough electoral loss, running close against the most well known Democratic senator in the country (and frontrunner for his party's presidential nomination), in times very different from our own.  I'd say that's some electoral success as well.  Cleveland defeated a split Republican party to win 535,318 votes to Republican nominee Charles J. Folger's 342,464,  a 58.47% to 37.41% majority, hardly a tough fight.  As for Clinton, he won the Governorship in 1978 by 63-36%, lost a close relection fight be 2-3 percent, and won it back two years later.  I can't figure if he was challenged hard between then and '92, but there's the answer to your question Rhubie.

Every time Penn opens is mouth like this, I send another $$ to Obama..Wolfson is even worse...

guess what Hillary guys, I've maxed for Obama..

These clowns, and their SOP of trash trash trash is why I cannot support the Pimp.

I'm in the wrong field. Man, $4 mil a year....

What kind of clients pay for this stuff? The House o Saud? Worldcom, Tyco, Countrywide?

And this person wants to be trusted with four to eight years of budgets?

lymon, Alan Keyes was a free ride, but the nomination to get to Keyes was not, and even though hand-of-God scandals knocked off a few of Obama's opponents there towards the end, he did succeed in boosting his polls significantly before that happened, in a crowded field against people who had much better name recognition and more money. It's really not like he just sat there and ended up a senator. H, on the other hand, had priceless name recognition before she even filed. I'm not saying it's her fault, but definitely she is in a very weak position to be saying someone else hasn't fought and won hard campaigns.

psantillana, don't bother lymon likes playing devils advocate posting items which really can't be taken seriously. You are dead on that he had to go through an intense Democratic primary, Hillary was just handed hers. And he is not to blame that Republican Ryan had a spectacular sexual flameout due to his cheating on Jerri Ryan (which just about makes Ryan insane in my book)  so the Republicans put up Keyes at a late date because no one else wanted it. In NY Guiliani's own sexual flameout gave Hillary her victory, which I don't begrudge her but as you rightly point out, she went up against no one in the primary at all.

Because someone has to do it! A couple of people, including my beloved colleague Chris , have ridiculed