Hillary Clinton reportedly wondered whether she had made the right call in deciding not to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination when Joe Biden was flailing in the crowded primary field, according to an account in a lengthy report about what former Obama administration officials thought about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s decision to launch a third presidential bid.
Philippe Reines, a longtime top adviser to Clinton in the State Department and later on her presidential campaign, told Politico in a piece published on Friday that the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee reconsidered her decision in fall 2019.
“There were a number of people who decided not to run, and then around October, before Thanksgiving, said to themselves, you know, ‘Did I make the right decision?’” Reines said. “She went through that exercise.”
He mentioned that billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick were Democratic primary candidates who entered the race late, around the time that many were doubting whether the former vice president, despite being the front-runner, was capable of winning the party’s presidential nod and whether he was the right man for the job. Both Bloomberg and Patrick launched presidential campaigns in November.
Reines did not necessarily indicate in the quote published in the story that Clinton seriously considered the idea of launching a 2020 presidential bid or thought about a potential run beyond imagining what could have been.
Democratic insiders in the fall of 2019 were voicing concern that Biden was not raising enough money or inspiring enough voters to be a strong candidate against President Trump as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The New York Times reported in October that Clinton had told people that she would consider entering the primary if she thought that she could win.
Reines also fueled speculation about whether Clinton might join the race in an October Fox News interview on Tucker Carlson’s show.
“She ran for president because she thought she would be the best president,” he said. “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.”
When asked if she had “foreclosed” the possibility of running, Reines said, “No.”
“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 say she’s too left, too right, too center, that’s the beauty of it. They get to vote against whatever they want,” he said.
In October, Clinton teased a possible rematch with Trump after he tweeted about the possibility of her entering the race.
“Don’t tempt me. Do your job,” she responded.
