Sorry - I did mean 12, but didn't explain well. If Obama wins and becomes a two-termer, if things followed the last few presidencies, it could well be 12 years before she has another shot.

There were three terms worth of Republicans in the WH with Reagan/Bush I. Because things seemed to be in good shape at the end of the Reagan era Bush seemed to be a positive continuation to the voters.

Then there were eight years worth of Clinton, a Democrat, and it was his VP who almost slid on in. It was awkward because Gore had to run on something of a fresh platform because he was trying to distance himself from the Clinton messes, despite the fact that the economic numbers were high and we had no clue that the terrorism that was brewing overseas was plotting to come our direction. Given how close the Bush/Gore election was, my gut tells me that but for the Clinton scandals Clinton's VP Gore probably could've easily made it into the WH.

If Obama is successful at wining the WH but doesn't have a good first term, he's still likely run as an incumbant and could lose to a Republican. Hillary wouldn't get a chance to run then and so it'd be 8 or 12 before that door opened back up.

If he's successful and does have a good first term and then wins a 2nd one, given that Biden has had presidential aspirations in the past, I would envision him running as the top Democratic contendor in 2016. That would mean Hillary wouldn't get much opportunity to hold the top slot on the Democratic ticket until 2020 at the earliest. And even then, if Biden is popular he'll get another chance, and if he's unpopular and doesn't run, chances are the country would be looking for a change and that would mean a Republican candiate stood a better chance. Probably.

I guess I have no clue how old HRC is right now. Is she in her early, mid, or late 50's?