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With Hillary and Barak appearing to be the most likely Democratic candidates for the 2008 presidential race, two strong Republicans have emerged as running neck-in-neck for the Republican prize. Unlike their potential Democratic rivals, Rudy and John bring to their campaign decades of solid leadership experience, as well as each exhibiting great courage in terribly critical situations: Giuiliani's valiant actions on 9/11/01 as mayor of New York City; and McCain's heroic endurance during five brutal years as a Vietnam War POW.

In my opinion, either one of the Republican tough guys could beat Hillary, no matter how high up on the pedestal she's currently being propped up by her adoring supporters. The take on Obama is more difficult, because the young man is still an unknown factor as to how well he'll fare in the 18-month stretch run-up before the Democratic convention.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on which side of battle you are, all four of the likely campaigners will carry some negative baggage into the battle. Some of it will be contrived and some will be real, but that doesn't matter when the heavy mud begins to fly. With Hillary it is her flip-flop opportunism on the war, her record of politics on the far left edge of her party, and the heaviest burden of all, Bill Clinton. With Barak, no one but he can guess what other startling revelations will follow his recent admission that he smoked pot and tried crack at a young age. And, of course, will his mixed parentage and his father's Islamic roots become issues that is bound to grow if racial strife at home heats up and/or the US war situation abroad deteriorates.

Both McCain and Giuiliani had past messy divorces and some questionable financial dealings that will haunt them in the coming months. It is possible that both Democrats and fundamentalist Republicans will go on the attack against them as their campaigns for the nomination heat up.

Conclusion: My guess is that the two candidates who emerge to face each other for the presidental election in November 2008 will be Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The Democrats' best chance would be if Hillary got Barak to agree to be her vice presidential running mate. This isn't likely at this time, but Barak is a very young man and it is possible he could grab any opportunity to hit the big job in 2012 or 2016.

If Rudy, who is also still a relatively young man, agrees to team with McCain as John's veep candidate, I predict they'll be an unbeatable team. Their one major stumbling block, and it could be almost impossible to climb over, would be if they loudly and often distance themselves from the current virtually self-destructive Republican administration, especially if the war is still going badly. Or maybe even if the war is still going at all.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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