Hillary Clinton finally laid to rest rumors that she was considering running for president yet again by telling mainstream news media outlets that she has no intention of mounting a bid for the presidency in 2020.
During the announcement, Clinton asserted that she is finished running for public office in general, and now intends to use her energy to promote causes and policies that she feels strongly about. She told reporters that she isn’t going anywhere, and that she plans to be very actively involved in the 2020 presidential election even though she won’t be a candidate.
The former Secretary of State did not expound on the reasons why she isn’t running, but it’s not hard to find several plausible ones.
First of all, the Democratic Party has moved very far to the left since she ran for president just a few years ago. In fact, her platform in 2016 would seem centrist in comparison to the proposals put forth by current Democratic presidential hopefuls. The Green New Deal, reparations for descendants of slaves, Medicare for all and free public college tuition are just some of the many popular progressive policies that Mrs. Clinton’s successors are touting.
There is also the fact that the primary field is already extremely crowded. Over a dozen Democrat politicians have already declared their candidacy, including five women. While Clinton would naturally have better name recognition than nearly all of them, it is doubtful that she would be able to claim a large enough portion of the primary votes to win the nomination a second time. Furthermore, there are so many scandals surrounding Mrs. Clinton’s time in political office, that her political enemies would have no problem reminding voters why she lost two times already.
There is also the fact that, by not running for the presidency, Clinton can continue blaming everyone else for her loss instead of accepting the fact that the overwhelming majority of states do not want her as their leader. To date, she has blamed well over three dozen individuals, groups of people and even nations for her 2016 loss and she can continue playing the “blame game” if she stays out of the running.
She can also continue cultivating her status as an “elder stateswoman” whom others can come to for wise counsel and advice. Indeed, nearly all the Democratic candidates running for president, with the notable exception of Sen. Bernie Sanders, have spoken with her to ask for her advice on how to run a successful primary campaign.
While it definitely remains to be seen how the primary season will turn out, at least one thing is now known: Hillary Clinton won’t be competing. Instead, she intends to give advice to her party’s candidates, and eventually campaign on behalf of whoever wins.
While her fellow party members and the mainstream media are extremely eager to hear what she has to say, it remains to be seen if the voters will put much stock on her comments. After all, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s speaking tour last year was a colossal flop, and the duo had to offer special discounts via Groupon to get people to come.
What’s more, even many Democrats have moved on and are more interested in listening to far-left party progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez than a septuagarian who is desperate to cling to relevance at all costs.
So, it’s official: the Clinton era is over.
~ Liberty Planet
