AMAC Exclusive – By Louis J. Senn
Just weeks after new bombshell revelations from the Durham investigation potentially implicating senior aides from her 2016 campaign in criminal wrongdoing, Hillary Clinton resurfaced again in New York to give a suspiciously campaign-sounding speech to state Democrats. After lying largely dormant during the Trump years, Clinton has quietly begun increasing her public appearances in recent months, dropping subtle hints that she may not be as done with politics as some had previously thought. Thus, with the midterms still more than seven months away, it may already be time to ask – after being thoroughly embarrassed and exposed last time around, is Hillary gearing up for another bid for the White House in 2024?
As ordinary Americans continue to face a litany of crises, from skyrocketing gas prices to a raging border crisis, the constant focus of the Beltway as always remains on the next election. An increasing number of voters clearly regard President Biden as unfit for office. So, that means it may be time for the Democratic Party to find a new candidate to put forward for 2024 if they want any chance of maintaining control of the White House.
As these discussions have quietly begun to take place in Democratic circles, Hillary Clinton continues to pop up like some sort of political whack-a-mole game.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Hillary has emerged to try and regain power after many had written her off. Following the turmoil that embroiled her husband’s years in office, many thought Hillary and the Clinton name would be forever stained by the unprecedented number of scandals. Nonetheless, Hillary managed to win a U.S. Senate election, and her career miraculously appeared to be on the upswing.
After a failed presidential run in 2008, she came back as Secretary of State. She then tried another presidential run in 2016 – this time running up against an opponent in Donald Trump who thoroughly exposed Clinton for her corruption. More than just beating her, Donald Trump appeared to have destroyed her political career forever.
Still, there were rumors she might try a rematch against Trump in 2020. But Joe Biden had been dutifully put forward, as it was now his promised turn.
The results, as many Americans have plainly seen, have not been stellar. Perhaps even more alarmingly for Democrats, the party doesn’t appear to have anyone on its bench to swoop in and replace Joe in 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris, who would normally be the favorite to succeed Biden, is even more unpopular than the President, no small feat given Biden’s own dismal poll numbers. Bernie Sanders is likely too old. Even Pete Buttigieg, who was seen as an up and coming star during the 2020 Democratic primary, has now fallen out of favor with Democratic insiders as a presidential hopeful. Thus, incredibly, Clinton may have an opening.
However, the trick in running for office is to want it enough to run but not show the voters just how desperately you want it. Perhaps that is why the Democratic establishment and the mainstream media are so aggressively assuring Americans that Clinton does not want the presidency.
Recently, Clinton was asked if she would consider running again in 2024 and laughed it off quickly. And she has repeatedly insisted that she doesn’t want to run. But her actions in recent months seem to tell a different story.
Take, for example, the before-mentioned speech to the New York State Democrat Convention. For many who watched, they got the distinct impression that she was relaunching and resetting her image as the Democrats begin their frantic search for someone who can replace Biden in 2024. Hillary also took the bizarre step of going on NBC and publicly reading her victory speech that she would have given if she had won the presidency in 2016. Such a move seems either an incredible display of narcissism or a deliberate attempt to convince people that she would still make a good president (or, perhaps more likely, both).
Career politicians like Clinton will generally say anything to get power, so it’s always their actions that demonstrate their true intentions. Clinton may believe that we’re foolish enough to think her “no” will convince us that she’s not interested in running, but you don’t launch two hard-fought campaigns if you’re not fervent about becoming president. It is hard to believe Hillary wouldn’t make the run if she thought she had a chance to win.
Democrats, however, should approach Hillary’s dreams of a comeback with extreme caution. There seems little reason to believe a third try at the presidency would end any less disastrously than the previous two. After all, with the entire Democratic establishment rallying behind Terry McAuliffe in a losing effort against Republican Glenn Youngkin for Virginia Governor, Clinton was conspicuously absent. Although she held a fundraiser for McAuliffe in New York, she was not asked to come campaign for McAuliffe in Virginia, something that even the deeply unpopular current president was asked to do.
In short, while Hillary’s diehard loyalists are likely convinced that she has a chance to finally get over the hump and win the presidency in 2024, no one else currently appears to agree, even most other Democrats. So while Hillary can try to claw her way back from political irrelevancy, she’s likely to find only the same cold shoulder from voters that she felt the last time she asked for power six years ago.
Louis J. Senn is a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, who previously worked for the Trump Administration.