by Steven Fujita

Created on: June 01, 2008

As Hillary Clinton pursues her improbable bid to be the Democrats' candidate in the 2008 presidential election, one must consider the possibility of Clinton bolting the Democratic Party and making a run for the presidency as an independent. The campaign has all but said the DNC has treated her unfairly and Bill Clinton has said that she has the better chance of winning the presidential election between the two remaining candidates. Possible foreshadowing of Clinton's post convention plans? With a combination of strategic moves and a little modification of her positions, Hillary Clinton may be the front-runner in a three way race between her, Barack Obama and John McCain. If she loses the candidacy to Barack Obama, and decides to run as an independent, she will have the best chance of an independent bid since Theodore Roosevelt bolted from the Republican Party (and ended up with more votes than the Republican incumbent, William Howard Taft) in 1912.

Before Clinton decides to run as an independent, she will put up a strong fight leading up to the Democratic Convention in Denver. Starting with her victory in Pennsylvania, she upset Obama in Indiana, lost North Carolina by a wide margin, but defeated Obama by a wide margin in West Virginia. She has kept Obama from "closing the deal" before the convention. Though Obama is still favored to win the nomination, Clinton's current strength as a candidate "who has no chance" shows she has a loyal following that will not abandon her. On May 31, the Rules Committee of the Convention met to determine whether Michigan and Florida delegates will be seated, and how. Clinton hoped for full seating for both delegations, along with the full slate of delegates that would have been awarded to her had the two states' right had been fully restored. The committee decided to allow each delegate from the states a half-vote. Clinton supporters suggested they will appeal the decision and bring the matter up with the credentials committee. Even if she wins the battle, but loses the war within the Democratic Party, she can use this issue in the general campaign as a person who fights for the voters even against her own party. Although Obama has surpassed Clinton in projected super-delegate support now, historians know that many presidential candidates have been chosen at the convention as a result of back-room dealings. We won't actually know until all the super-delegates actually make a formal, rather than verbal commitment.

Assuming that

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