By Brigitte L. Nacos
The other day, Cjrystia Freeland of Reuters wrote, “With hindsight, we may find that the 2016 U.S. presidential race began last week, when Hillary Rodham Clinton made a politically electrifying point. ‘Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me,’ she said at the Women in the World conference in New York. ‘But they all seem to. It doesn’t matter what country they’re in or what religion they claim. They want to control women.‘” Actually, the Secretary of State made another important point. “It is hard to believe that even here at home, we have to stand up for women’s rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us, because America needs to set an example for the entire world,” she said.
Albert Hunt of Bloomberg News predicted earlier,” On Nov. 7, the day after the presidential election, she will be the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination, regardless of who wins the presidency this time or whether she plans to run."
Bill Keller, the former executive editor of the New York Times, addressed the idea of Hillary Clinton replacing Joe Biden as President Obama’s running-mate in this fall’s campaign. “It’s time to take it seriously,” he wrote and gave three specific reasons for the Hillary as candidate for the vice presidency: “One: it does more to guarantee Obama’s re-election than anything else the Democrats can do. Two: it improves the chances that, come next January, he will not be a lame duck with a gridlocked Congress but a rejuvenated president with a mandate and a Congress that may be a little less forbidding. Three: it makes Hillary the party’s heir apparent in 2016.
Like others with less prominent media platforms Keller envisioned Biden to replace Clinton as secretary of state.
But Maureen Dowd is convinced that such a switch--however compelling--is “not on the radar screen at the White House” because Hillary Clinton would not “be able to navigate past two powerful men who would find her elevation problematic: Obama and Biden.”
When the first “Hillary for vice president” suggestions surfaced in the blogosphere, I dismissed them as pipe dreams. But the prospect of having any of the remaining GOP candidates duping enough independent voters and moderate Republicans (if there are any left) to score a victory over President Obama in November has changed my view.
Whether Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum end up with their party’s nomination, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them pick a female running mate to score points with women—in spite of their participation in the religious right’s relentless attacks on women’s rights and dignity.
It will not be Sarah Palin or Michele Bachman. But I think Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, who is widely regarded as an upcoming GOP star. She won her office as darling of the Tea Party and was endorsed by Palin. Imagining any of the remaining competitors in the GOP’s primaries as future president is a nightmare. Imagining a female Tea Partier as vice president and loyal supporter of the male top dog is worse.
I agree with Bill Keller that Hillary, more than Biden or any other Democrat, would go a long way to help Obama to win reelection.
As vice president Biden has done as good a job as anyone in this office. His opposition to the troop surge in Afghanistan was right. The additional troops that General David Petreus pushed for and President Obama agreed to, did not improve the situation on the ground. Depending on the considerable skill and effectiveness of Special Forces to continue the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan and the region that Biden wanted, would have been the better choice.
During his long tenure as U.S. Senator and his time as vice president Biden has shown expertise and good judgment, especially with respect to foreign policy. Moving to the State Department would be a perfect fit for him.
So, the ball is now in Joe Biden’s court.
This is the script: Biden volunteers to move to Soggy Bottom. Clinton agrees to join the Democratic ticket. Obama blesses the switch.
Recent images of the Secretary of State confirm reports that she is exhausted from the grueling schedule she keeps. But a few weeks of rest would refresh her for the fall campaign—not to mention the bright prospect of using the vice presidency as springboard for the 2016 presidential race.
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