That being said, two years of GOP control of the Congress might make Democrats out of a lot of people who would never admit to going over to the other side - assuming, that is, that Obama doesn't get it into his head that finally, he has a Congress who can give him the Grand Bargain he's pined for.  

At which point, I don't know what happens.  We cry, I guess.

I so badly want someone to get into the race who can push, pull and cart Hillary Clinton in a leftward direction, and who won't be satisfied to claim to be to the left, but only because the GOP has gone so far to the right that it just seems that way.

And, no - I am not talking about Elizabeth Warren.  I want her right where she is, pushing hard against the right in the Senate - and even against Obama, when he needs to be pushed.

However, the caution of a "poverty of imagination" does need to be heeded for the campaign.   Secretary of State brought value to her candidacy, but the trappings of that office need to be shed so as to demonstrate a reclamation of a popular touch.

President Obama was remiss on this score in his first debate with Romney, and we saw a similar reaction by Al Gore in debates with Bush.  Mrs. Clinton's early interview on NPR with Terry Gross (despite Ms Gross's demeanor) was needlessly controversial.

Clearly, the lesson is to never underestimate the opponent just because he is a dullard.   Importantly, "Poverty of imagination,"  comes into play in presenting a vision and plan for that vision in her administration. What will be the same, what will be different from the Obama Administration.

Romney would make that task easier in that we know he is bereft of ideas. Jeb does have some thoughts, but he needs to tame them for his crowd.   Both, are no threats from a freshness perspective. Some Republican wannabes can provide a fresher face, but still offer stale ideas--and worse, dangerous ones.

But this statement by Ezra resonates with me as well:

"It's very hard to imagine that eight years in the future, the party will want to move back to Clinton."

Even as we move toward anointing Clinton, I find it difficult to imagine that that is as far as the Democratic party has moved in eight long years: Nowhere.

The only breath of air has come from Elizabeth Warren in my opinion - and she is not going to run.

So, for me, it's not just that Clinton wants it, it's that if there are other voices - particularly voices on the left , I'm not hearing them.

What a poverty of imagination in the Democratic party. And on the other side - it is a proverbial clown car - packed with people I couldn't even imagine having lunch with - yet alone seeing as president.

As of today she is a shoe in to be the nominee.  Who is or who even wants to challenge her?  The only type of candidate that makes sense is an Elizabeth Warren type candidate that can challenge her from the more progressive side of the party.  But I wonder if such a person is going to stand up and instead we will get a more generic Democrat opponent that Hillary can easily defeat.

Since the goal of the Democrats is to win the presidential election do you really feel a strong progressive candidate facing her in the primary will do her any favors?  

While I get the theory that she needs a good challenge in the nomination process to prepare for the general election I also think getting stuck in debates on more progressive issues might hurt her in the general election.

Also what is the Bill factor going to be?

We can talk about Hillary as an individual as much as we want but Bill is going to loom large. Most Americans are not going to see her as an individual they are going to see the two of them as a package deal.  

Let's just say for arguments sake Americans somehow separate Hillary from Bill in terms of today she is still going to be seen as a politician from that generation. How does she go about claiming to be a politician with new ideas and not a politician that's part of the status quo?

Can she reignite the Obama voter? He won his two elections by getting people to the polls that otherwise may not have come and in the first election actually winning Republican voters because of his message of change.  He did this through his powerful personality and his message. Is she up to this challenge?

Does she separate herself from Obama? He will not leave office as a popular president but she can't go bashing himl but she has to again claim she's different somehow and appeal to a more moderate part of the electorate in the general.

Ironically I think Republicans are about to cancel out the factor were she is most vulnerable if they nominate Jeb Bush.

I'm sorry but I can't think of anything more boring than a Bush Clinton or Clinton Bush national election.

Does anyone with a genuine imagination and an ounce of creative ability or real political courage even stand a chance of existing in our current political system?

Nope. (Though the fact that Elizabeth Warren has the role she does is mildly encouraging.)

On a related note, I'm starting to really be annoyed by those people who've been pining ceaselessly in public for an Elizabeth Warren presidential candidacy in 2016, and who are apparently still refusing to take her definitive "No!" from just this week as an acceptable answer.

Everything that I've heard Sen. Warren say thus far in response to the relentless inquiries tells me that she sincerely and truly does not want to run for president in 2016. And if her diehard fans at MoveOn.org et al. really respect her as a person, rather than merely as their all-purpose poster girl, they'll take her at her word and stop this nonsense.

I am a small  g gator fan as I grew up there but eventually went to Vanderbilt but the part of me that is a Gator fan has mixed emotions.

I know all my Gator buddies are struggling with this.  They are still very bitter over how Urban left the program and don't buy that he is some how doing this differently than he did at Florida.   We see the same Urban that win those two national championships on the sideline today. You can't tell me he isnt still putting in the work that he put in at Florida.  Maybe he has changed but Gator fans have their doubts.

But bottom line that guy is just the best coach in the country right now and he could still be prowling the sidelines of Gainesville.

As oculus points out though, things aren't done until they are done.  It looks good for her, but until she is the nominee, she isn't.

To try and find some answers, we're starting a recurring "Will They Run?" feature. We'll look at three variables:

    1. What the person has said about running. If candidates say they are definitely running, they get a 5. If they say they are exploring or seriously considering a run, they get a 4. If they are unsure, they get a 3. If they haven't ruled it out but are leaning toward no, they get a 2. If they say they aren't running, they get a 1.

    2. How many events -- rallies, fundraisers, political meetings, etc. -- they have held in Iowa and New Hampshire (the "early states").

    3. How many national primary polls they have been included in.

The logic here is straightforward. We look at statements because some candidates are relatively honest about their intentions. We look at early-state events because actions speak louder than words: Almost all of the candidates on the ground in Iowa and New Hampshire in early 2007 and early 2011 ended up running in 2008 and 2012, respectively. And we look at the polls under the assumption that pollsters are close political observers with some idea of who is likely to run.1

We'll score every potential candidate who has been included in at least one national poll since the 2014 midterm elections.2

[...]

We plan to update these numbers regularly and see how much of this changes. Just in the course of writing this article, Ryan and Warren declared they weren't running, and Romney's efforts became more serious. The race to the White House is only now beginning.

"We are not going to have a circus" says Prince Reibus.