Obama vs. Clinton vs. Kerry in '08?
Oct. 22, 2006 — -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., was taking part in a televised debate Sunday that was supposed to be about the New York Senate election two weeks away. But the first question was about the presidential election two years away.
WABC political reporter Dave Evans asked Clinton if she would repeat the pledge she made when she first ran in 2000 to serve her full, six-year Senate term. Doing that would rule out a run for the White House in 2008 and Clinton was not willing to repeat her pledge.
"I can't make a decision now" about running for president, she said. "I have made no decision. But if that concerns any voter, they should factor that into the vote they make."
Don't look now, but even though the 2006 congressional midterm elections haven't even been held, the 2008 presidential campaign is already underway.
"Presidential campaigns basically never stop," said Mark Halperin, ABC News' political director and co-author of "The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008."
This campaign is shaping up as the first since 1928 in which there will be no sitting president or vice president running.
"That produces a lot of aggressive, early activity," Halperin said.
Clinton's refusal to rule out a 2008 run is not surprising; she's seen as the Democratic frontrunner.
More surprising was the declaration from freshman Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who has been campaigning for Democratic congressional candidates and had earlier said he was not inclined to run.
"Given the response that I've been getting over the last several months, I have thought about the possibility" of running for president, Obama said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I have thought about it over the last few months."
Obama is riding the crest of a publicity wave right now, with a new book out and his face gracing the cover of magazines ranging from Time to Men's Vogue. His first turn in the national spotlight came in 2004 when Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry asked him to address the Democratic National Convention.
