Joe Biden had better watch his back. Prominent Democrats who are not even running in their party’s 2020 primary are circling him like buzzards, weighing whether to swoop in if the former vice president is deposed as the front-runner.
One such buzzard is Hillary Clinton, whose dream of being called “Madame President” is alive and well, despite losing a very winnable election in 2016 to President Trump.
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Longtime Clinton capo Philippe Reines, who is a gross and weird human being, fueled speculation this week that the former secretary of state may make a third run at the White House, claiming the two-time failed presidential candidate has not totally ruled out a 2020 candidacy. The moment occurred Wednesday evening during an appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
“She ran for president because she thought she would be the best president,” said Reines. “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.”
Carlson asked in a follow-up, “She hasn’t foreclosed the possibility?”
“No,” Reines responded. “This is a huge if. But if she were 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 she’s too left, too right, too center, that’s the beauty of it. They get to vote against whatever they want.”
He has clearly given this some amount of thought.
“She’s not running because she has any anxiety about the Democratic field. She really likes a lot of the people running,” Reines concluded. “She knows them well. She thought about some of them for her vice presidency. But there might be a reason that she would be the best person, not only to beat Donald Trump but to govern after Donald Trump.”
Go ahead and put that on a bumper sticker.
Clinton’s inner circle has done a bit more than daydream about the prospect of her jumping into the 2020 Democratic primary. It sounds like they have given it some serious thought.
Then again, take it all with a grain of salt. There is a significant chance that all of the 2020 chatter from Clinton-world is about ginning up sales for Clinton’s new book — The Book of Gutsy Women — which she co-authored with her daughter, Chelsea.
Reines’ comments Wednesday evening coincide with what the New York Times reported Tuesday of both Clinton and prominent Chinese communism enthusiast Michael Bloomberg:
[…]
Democrats who have recently spoken with Mrs. Clinton say she shares the same concerns other party elites have about the field — worried about Mr. Biden’s durability, Ms. Warren’s liberal politics and unsure of who else can emerge to take on Mr. Trump. But these people, who spoke anonymously to discuss private conversations, say she enjoys the freedom that comes with not being on the ballot.
Clinton has tried to reinvent herself since the 2016 election as some sort of leader-in-exile, telling anyone who will listen that she is the rightful heir to the throne. She has spent the last three years complaining about her 2016 defeat, blaming everything from sexism to racism to Russian hackers for what really comes down to her own failure to campaign in competitive Rust Belt states.
Clinton believes she should be president, which, oddly enough, summed up the entire message of her failed 2016 candidacy — hence the astonishingly self-centered mottos like “I’m with Her” and “Make Herstory.” That she should be conceited enough to try for a third run at the White House is not that outlandish.
But that comes with the caveat that this might be all about the book sales — something about Clintons and money.
