With all the noise about President Biden and whether he will withdraw from the presidential race or not (the rumors seem to change every day.), the news is leaking out that the Clintons are fully supporting Biden staying in the race. At the same time, we now have this op-ed in The Hill by someone named Pablo O'Hana. He says there is a perfect solution to the dilemma facing the Democrats.
Hillary Clinton, the Empress Dowager, herself.
O'Hana goes on to extoll Clinton's experience and great achievements as a senator and secretary of State. To be frank, his op-ed is downright hagiographic in its fulsome praise of Mrs. Clinton. O'Hana is a Brit, but at the end of the article he says this:
"In her candidacy, we might just find our best chance to retain the White House and transcend the gladiatorial spectacle of politics."
(I would infer that O'Hana is a naturalized US citizen, which would be irrelevant except for the above sentence.)
At any rate, I would beg to differ since I considered her a flop as senator and secretary of State, not to mention her controversies as First Lady. That is not my thesis here, however. Hillary Clinton's faults and scandals have been thrashed out for years, and the public is well aware of them. I would also note that Hillary Clinton is no stranger to "gladiatorial" politics.
Instead, I prefer to speculate as to why the Clintons have come out in support of Biden. This is just a guess from someone who, obviously, has no insider information.
Some observers are speculating that this is just a way for the Clintons to get back at former-President Obama. If you recall, he's the one who "stole" the 2008 nomination from Hillary. That may well be, but if Hillary is really waiting in the wings to run again, the smart move would not to be one of those pulling the rug out from under Biden and the 14 million or so Democrats who chose him to be the nominee. Thus, if Hillary really thinks Biden's days are numbered, better to be the loyal supporter who, after Biden drops out, can be persuaded by the Democrats to save the nation from the evil Trump. (No doubt it will require a lot of cajoling on the part of the Democrat leadership, right?)
In this respect, California Governor Gavin Newsom also comes to mind. He is "steadfastly supporting" Biden. Few doubt his ambition to one day be in the White House.
But getting back to Hillary, there's a problem. Aside from the obvious dilemma of dragging out another old white dinosaur and passing over Kamala Harris (a minority), I doubt that the younger generation of Democrat voters would warm up to Mrs. Clinton. She would simply represent more of the same old gerontocracy of the party when most people on both sides prefer younger leadership after watching Biden struggle the last 3-1/2 years.
Moreover, there is the never-ending issue of Clinton scandals she would have to deal with. Perhaps, the email issue has been beaten to death (unsuccessfully), but questions about the Clinton relationship to Jeffrey Epstein would surely arise. On the other hand, a Trump vs. Clinton campaign would just be one accusation after another against each other.
More than that, I just feel that Hillary's moment has passed even among the liberals. She is not likable, she is not charismatic, and listening to her speeches is an ordeal. She has her following, but I don't think she would excite the younger Democrat voters. In fact, I think she will turn them off. That's just my opinion. Far be it from me to get inside the heads of today's Democrats.
At any rate, assuming Biden drops out, I doubt the nomination will go to anyone who is trying to oust him. That means that whoever among the Democrats wants the nomination, the last thing they would do is submarine Biden.
No comments:
Post a Comment