# Posted 1:07 PM by Ariel David Adesnik  

EVEN HILLARY'S FANS DON'T WANT HER TO RUN: Last night I was a fly on the wall at a liberal gathering. Eight of us had just returned from an outdoor performance of Shakespeare's Pericles and were now sitting on the front porch of a row house on a tree-lined street near Rock Creek Park.

I had met four of my companions for the first time earlier that evening and had met two of the others only a couple of times before. My final companion was a good friend but a man of few words, who said nothing of my politics. Thus, the other six assumed that I was just like them: a young, white, well-educated, well-intentioned liberal.

Eventually the subject of discussion turned to politics, specifically Al Gore's new film The Inconvenient Truth. A few of my companions hopefully asked whether we thought Gore would run in 2008. Others lamented the Democratic Party's pathological habit of nominating unelectable losers.

One of my companions hoped aloud that there wouldn't be 74 different Democrats running for the nomination in 2008. Someone else responded that if 74 different Democrats actually ran, maybe one of them would turn out to be a good candidate.

Inevitably, the subject turned to Hillary. I expected nothing less than firm support, but I was wrong. Concerns about her being unelectable emerged almost immediately, and no one bothered to dispute that assessment. One person went as far as to say that he hoped Hillary wouldn't run because it would hurt the party and its chances in 2008.

But why was Hillary unelectable? One person quickly suggested that she was too liberal. Another person responded that she really isn't all that liberal. But no one denounced the First Lady they way they regularly do over at Kos. This exchange confirmed in my mind that I was listening to part of the mainstream Democratic electorate and not the party's left-wing base. In other words, these concerns about Hillary's electability were coming from her most favorable demographic.

My inference based on last night's discussion is that my companions would vote for Hillary in the primaries, although with a heavy heart. They would only abandon her if the party produced a candidate that seemed unbeatable (which is a very remote possibility).

The reigning conventional wisdom on both sides of the aisle is that mobilizing a passionate base is the key to victory in 2008. But conventional wisdom has a very short life span. After all, in 1996 and 2000, the conventional wisdom was that you have to play to the center.

In the end, politics is always a gamble. If I were Hillary's, I wouldn't even think about giving up just yet. (6) opinions -- Add your opinion