Senate Democrats responded to reports that Hillary Clinton was considering running for the Democratic presidential nomination a third time.
“She’s done a great service to our country and public service and I supported her wholeheartedly, but I believe it’s time for another nominee,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told Politico on Thursday.
“I don’t think it would be good for her,” Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester said. “She’s been through this war once. The Republicans have made a target out of her for 30 years and she’s still going to [be] that same target. I just think it would be tough.”
Clinton, 71, has stoked speculation by joking about entering the race and reportedly telling several people she would consider getting into the race if she thought she could win.
“That would be a mistake,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said about the possibility. Sen. Joe Manchin said it was “absolutely not” a good idea for her to enter the race.
Longtime Clinton aide Philippe Reines further increased speculation of a Clinton run by telling Fox News host Tucker Carlson that she would run if she thought she could beat President Trump. “If she still thought that now, if she thought she had the best odds of beating Donald Trump, I think she would think about it long and hard,” he said.
“This is a huge if. But if she were to jump in for whatever reason and the party has moved someplace that she hasn’t, then she won’t get the votes. That’s the point of the primary. There are still 19 people. There are a few that are in double digits. If she were to run, and people think she’s too Left, too Right, too center, that’s the beauty of it. They get to vote against whatever they want,” Reines added.
Still, Senate Democrats are not excited for Clinton to enter the race anytime soon. “I think we need to move forward,” Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones said.
“We have a lot of really fantastic candidates out there already,” Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono said. “Let’s leave it at that.”
