Just when you thought it was safe to relax from the flip-flopping, red-state v. blue state, 2004 presidential elections, you were wrong.
Before you can say "got any wood," political junkies and gambling men placed their bets on Hillary Clinton to run for office.
A new poll suggests the New York senator could bring the Clintons back to Pennsylvania Avenue. The first straw poll of the 2008 presidential race was held in South Carolina recently, with Senator Clinton the surprise winner. But should it really come as a surprise?
Not according to 'The Situation' guest Bob Kunst. The president of joins Tucker Carlson to explain why she should (and could) get on the ballot.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST 'THE SITUATION': My first question is the obvious question. I don't hate Hillary Clinton. I think she's smart, fairly charming and accomplished to some degree. But what is the essence of her appeal to you? Why would you spend most of your time promoting her? What do you so like about Hillary Clinton?
BOB KUNST, PRESIDENT OF HILLARYNOW.COM: Let me start with the fact that I thoroughly dislike Mr. Bush, as I think the majority of the country does at this point. I didn't trust Mr. Bush on the 2000 election. I'm from Florida, Miami Beach. We have certainly the concern of the stolen election and, certainly, Iraq and a million other issues, that now the public has, I think, turned away from Bush.
The question that I was concerned about within the Democratic Party was the lack of a fight, the lack of resistance, the lack of people who were going to come back and offer alternatives.
CARLSON: Well, then I've got your guy: Howard Dean.
KUNST: Well, no, no. Let me give you a better example just from yesterday.
Former Senator Hollings from South Carolina was at this event. He said that his fellow Democrats were suffering from lockjaw, that there isn't a resistance movement and that we're really in great serious trouble and danger. I understand that. What I'm looking for is, where is the opposition? I see that Hillary is the strongest Democrat that has tremendous personal abilities.
She's received hostility and the nastiness — I know because I get all the e-mail from everybody that can't stand her. And I can tell you, bottom line, nobody gets attacked like this woman. The fact that she has that strength and has kept her family together is a unique positive. That needs to be part of where public servants are at.
CARLSON: So, people hate her, so...
KUNST: ... relating to the crisis at hand. We need to have a strong leader.
CARLSON: OK. I understand your desire for somebody who speaks Democratic beliefs clearly.
KUNST: That's what we presented to the Democrats in South Carolina.
CARLSON: But, you must be particularly concerned by her obvious move to the center, if not the right, lately. She's been a steadfast supporter of the war in Iraq.
KUNST: I‘m only concerned whether or not she comes up.
CARLSON: And she's also been making these sort of friendly noises about evangelicals and pro-lifers lately. That's not exactly being the liberal standard-bearer, is it?
KUNST: Well, I'm not interested in liberal/conservative. I don't think those issues are relevant.
We're talking right and wrong here and how we‘re going to develop, not red vs. blue states, but red, white and blue. How are we going to unite the country to fight the common enemy out there?
What I see from Hillary's position, if she goes to the center and plays out Bill Clinton's strategy, that's a losing proposition. That was the Gore campaign. That's the Kerry campaign. It's a disaster. Nobody is interested.
If she will tell the truth, if she will trust the public, if she will reach the level that the public is already at as a political figure and she will come up with the answers and start now in the Senate, there will be a trust factor for her as president.
And then we'll be able to have the first elected woman president, who is quality and who is fighting back and who is making sense.
Look, my position on Hillary is, I don't care about all the other nonsense and all the labels. If you are going to defend the country and you're going to protect us, you'll do what's right, you can make all these other alliances. It's very nice.
CARLSON: But, hold on. Let me ask you an obvious question here just for a second. If you are interested in electing a woman Democrat president — understandable desire — it seems sort of insulting to the many other, more accomplished female Democrats, say, in the Senate, people who have been around a lot longer than Mrs. Clinton, have accomplished much more in public service than she has. Women like Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Mikulski, Blanche Lambert Lincoln, et cetera, et cetera.
KUNST: Anybody is welcome to come forward. Hillary was first lady for eight years, not Barbara Boxer. Hillary is you know, is a mom with Chelsea. Hillary has served in the U.S. Senate.
And she's not just a politician. She has a star quality which I have seen. And I think that's an attractive appeal.
I got to tell you something. I just came Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. I just went to the Bessie Smith Strut in Chattanooga. There were 60,000 people there, 80,000 at the previous event. I saw tons of people who came over and were rallying with me. These were Republicans who are angry with Bush.
They gave Bush their support. They're now looking in a different direction.