The former First Lady has been campaigning hard since well before the 2004 election. When asked in 2003 if she had any plans to run in the 2004 presidential race she made it clear that she didn’t, but when asked about 2008 she would give no answer.

To win the next election Hillary sees a need to appease the strong conservative base that defeated the Democratic party in 2004. So far she’s done this by compromising key liberal issues:

  • Abortion
    She gave a speech in February of 2005 where she backtracked on abortion saying there was a need to focus on abstinence rather than condoms, adoption rather than abortion. This infuriated many pro-choice democratic supporters.
  • Iraq
    Appearing with John McCain in Arizona Hillary spoke of the ’success’ of the Iraqi election.

What she’s doing is compromising the very resolve that made Howard Dean a superstar in the grassroots movement. Hillary seems to have made a thorough strategy to create an image, but it’s likely to backfire as the loyal democratic supporters begin to feel betrayed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hillary was challenged from the left and defeated in the 2008 primary.