Current Evet to American Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Evet to American Politics - Essay Example However, neither Senator Clinton's association with a highly popular former president nor the ever-increasing unpopularity of the Republican Party, are sufficient guarantees of a Democratic victory. Indeed, as may be inferred from Healey's (2007) article, the complexities inherent in both the party primaries and the presidential elections are certain to make this a difficult race for Senator Clinton. The 2008 elections, whether for either party's nomination or the presidency, are largely complicated by the fact that they represent the first non-incumbent or open-seat race in exactly eight decades. As the American government and political science scholars, Petrocik and Desposato (2004) explain, party primaries and presidential elections usually feature an incumbent as a contender. Ever since 1928, sitting presidents or vice-presidents have joined the presidential race as candidates and, irrespective of whether they win or loose, often pose as extremely strong contenders. In the 2008 elections, no incumbents are running for the presidency or either the Democratic or Republican Primaries. To an extent, this may work in favor of Senator Clinton's race for her party's nomination and, if successful, for the presidency, insofar as she may be classified as a semi-incumbent.