What current member of the Senate is the most likely to become President?

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Regardless of political party, what current Senator do you think is the most likely future president?

[petedewolfe]

Thune.

[Bo]

Kirsten Gillibrand.

[Derek]

John Thune

[phk]

I always thought Thune was a wiser, less narcissistic, less flashier version of John Edwards.

What does that make him? A lightweight.

[SvenssonRS]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Warner.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Scott Brown

[Katherine Harris is legit]

Scott Brown

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Warner, because he used to be a Governor.

People whose highest office is "Senator" rarely make it into the oval office. Thankfully.

[hawkeye59]

Feingold.

[Psychic Octopus]

Not sure. The most likely choices, IMO, are Thune & Warner.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Feingold or Warner.

[tmthforu94]

Hutchison or Warner

[CatoMinor]

Warner

[milhouse24]

Yeah, I'm going to say Warner, then Thune afterwards

[Max Electric]

Mark Warner, though I don't think he's very likely...

[Anthony]

Democratic senators most likely to be president: Kirsten Gillibrand or Kay Hagan

Republican senators most likely to be president: John Thune

[milhouse24]

Democratic senators most likely to be president: Kirsten Gillibrand or Kay Hagan

Republican senators most likely to be president: John Thune

I'm not even sure that Gillibrand would win her re-election, but she seems okay since she's from the district next to me. 

[Anthony]

Democratic senators most likely to be president: Kirsten Gillibrand or Kay Hagan

Republican senators most likely to be president: John Thune

I'm not even sure that Gillibrand would win her re-election, but she seems okay since she's from the district next to me. 

I know, but I was just listing who was in the Senate at the moment who might become president. If Gillibrand does win reelection, which is probably more likely than the reelection of alot of other senators at the moment, she might run for president in the future.(Most likely either in 2016 or 2020.)

But really, I think the most likely Democratic senator to one day become president hasn't even been elected to the Senate yet, since Obama wasn't elected to the Senate until 2004, and it only took 4 years in the Senate to get elected president.

[Bo]

Democratic senators most likely to be president: Kirsten Gillibrand or Kay Hagan

Republican senators most likely to be president: John Thune

I'm not even sure that Gillibrand would win her re-election, but she seems okay since she's from the district next to me. 

I know, but I was just listing who was in the Senate at the moment who might become president. If Gillibrand does win reelection, which is probably more likely than the reelection of alot of other senators at the moment, she might run for president in the future.(Most likely either in 2016 or 2020.)

But really, I think the most likely Democratic senator to one day become president hasn't even been elected to the Senate yet, since Obama wasn't elected to the Senate until 2004, and it only took 4 years in the Senate to get elected president.

Obama is more of an exception than the rule, though.

[DS0816]

None of them. Best any of them could hope for is vice president.

[Mechaman]

Democratic senators most likely to be president: Kirsten Gillibrand or Kay Hagan

Republican senators most likely to be president: John Thune

I'm not even sure that Gillibrand would win her re-election, but she seems okay since she's from the district next to me.  

I know, but I was just listing who was in the Senate at the moment who might become president. If Gillibrand does win reelection, which is probably more likely than the reelection of alot of other senators at the moment, she might run for president in the future.(Most likely either in 2016 or 2020.)

But really, I think the most likely Democratic senator to one day become president hasn't even been elected to the Senate yet, since Obama wasn't elected to the Senate until 2004, and it only took 4 years in the Senate to get elected president.

Exactomundo:

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Right now, I also say Thune.

[justW353]

Democrat:  Russ Feingold
Republican:  John Thune or Scott Brown

[pragmatic liberal]

Plenty of first-term senators run for president - Al Gore, Bob Kerrey, John Edwards - but aside from Obama, most don't win. Obama really was the exception, not a rule. Senators usually need to have at least completed one whole term and won reelection to be credible.

On paper, Gillibrand has a good chance. But honestly, her voice and demeanor, superficial though they may be, will be a HUGE hindrance. Unfortunately, she just doesn't seem - again, on a very superficial level - to have the stature to be a credible candidate for president. More like New York's Patty Murray than another Hillary Clinton.

I doubt Warner actually runs, despite the hype. He had a perfect shot in 2008 and passed. He'll be old news by 2016.

Jim Webb reportedly has presidential ambitions, but I think he's unlikely to run - or win - unless Democrats are really looking for someone electable in an otherwise unfavorable climate. So if Obama loses reelection, I could see him (he'd be 70 at the time) running in 2016. Although given that Virginia is a swing state, his reelection hopes will probably tie in with Obama's fate - if Obama loses reelection, Webb probably loses too.

I actually think the Democratic senator most likely to run for president in 2016 is Sheldon Whitehouse. And he'd actually have a pretty good shot at the nomination - plenty of establishment support (albeit from the left side), generally good relations with the White House, well-liked by his colleagues, and likely to have support from the liberal base of the party.