Opinion by: Saagar Enjeti
Or at least that’s the thought that I had yesterday while scrolling through Twitter when I came across Former Clinton Advisor Phillippe Reine’s tweet lambasting CNN for speculating that the future Democratic nominee will not want Hillary Clinton to speak at the convention. I usually giggle at Reines gasping for relevancy on Twitter and cable news but it was the factoid that he included at the end that should concern us all
Reines is a close Clinton lackey who followed her throughout her career and even played Donald Trump in her mock debates. The point is that he is someone whose word we can at least trust when he tells us that candidates in the field are actively seeking her endorsement for president in 2020. His vehement defense of his former boss shows she intends to at least try and speak at the 2020 Democratic Convention.
Hillary has long refused to rid us all of her boomer musings since losing. She blamed James Comey, Russia, the Media, everyone but herself and the morons that she hired for her embarrassing loss on the grandest stage. Just look at the wisdom the former Secretary of State bestows upon us from her chappaqua perch.
In the meantime, she’s writing Bill O’Reilly level generic books with her daughter as a seeming excuse to find her way back to national television and remain an omnipresent force in our politics. Clinton hasn’t begun talking about the primary…yet, but we can be pretty certain that she will and that is a net loss for us all.
One of Donald Trump’s greatest gifts to the world in 2016 was the unmasking and unclothing of the emperors of Washington politics. From former Republican nominees who impotently fought for the concerns of their voters, to former Republican presidents who ran on economic prosperity and ended up getting us into a 7 trillion dollar war. My point is, his genius was a break from the party establishment to create the existing infrastructure in a new image.
All of the same warning signs are there for the Democratic side, and the establishment knows it. That’s why they’re trying desperately to co-opt Elizabeth Warren, and then their long time friend at arms length, Joe Biden, and basically anyone who is not named Bernie Sanders. The Democratic field is rife for the taking by a candidate who will push all of these consultants, former nominees, and others away while speaking directly to what voters actually want.
That requires one to denounce Hillary, it requires one in the words of the dodgeball movie…To get mean and it’s something that is shockingly lacking on the democratic side. An airing of grievances is actually a very good thing. Trying to fight a class war through implicit jabs at those who are running and those who came before you is not how these things actually get done. It’s mystifying that Julian Castro of all people was the first person to understand this on a basic level in this race.
Furthermore, the fact that major party candidates are still seeking the endorsement and the appearance of closeness with possibly the most toxic individual in the history of this country’s politics tells you quite a bit about how much they have learned from 2016.
Elizabeth Warren is a good example. NBC News reported in late August that she’s been speaking with Clinton and they have quote “grown closer” in recent months. Given that she could very well be the next president of the United States, that is very concerning news about Elizabeth Warren.
One of the things that I love most about the United Kingdom is that when a prime minister or a major party candidate loses a general election, they step aside for the next generation to completely make their case as they will to the British people.
Theresa May, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, and others, they have things to say. Usually, they keep pretty quiet and every once in a while they’ll offer an opinion but there’s a public understanding that when you fail you should slip away.
And Hillary would all do very well to heed their example.
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