Hedging Hillary's Chances for the White House

May 31, 2006 — -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., may have accepted her party's nomination for a second term as the New York senator in Buffalo today, but she sure didn't sound as if she was running only for that seat.

"We need a fundamentally new direction … solutions that help us meet our 21st century challenges of expanding our economy, defending our security and preserving our values," the Democratic senator said.

Although the presidential election is more than two years away, Democrats in attendance were abuzz about Clinton's possible presidential prospects.

"I think that everybody agrees that she will be the Democratic candidate and that's not in question," said former New York Mayor Ed Koch.

"There is no question that 2008 is in her mind," said former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler. "I think it's reasonable to expect whatever she does might have that as a backdrop."

A new ABC News/Washington Post Poll shows a huge gender gap among Clinton supporters, even among Democrats, with women more likely to support Clinton than men by a margin of 13 points.

The gap continues with Republicans, where three in 10 women indicated a willingness to support Clinton compared with two out of 10 Republican men.

While Clinton has proved popular with the Democratic base in places like New York City, she is much weaker with the political center, the moderates and Independents in states like Ohio and Florida that she will need to win a general election.

A daunting 42 percent of all Americans say they'd never vote for her for president.

That statistic worries many local Democratic officials, including one from Greene County Missouri, where Bill Clinton won both his presidential runs.

"We really do need a nominee I think who can appeal to those moderate Republican voters and Independents," said Nora Walcott, executive director of the Greene County Democratic Party. "I am just not personally sure that Senator Clinton is that candidate."