It’s interesting that Hillary Clinton simultaneously says that she has “the best job she can ever have,” and that she is definitely quitting that job after the 2012 elections. I’m sure everyone can parse that out for themselves, but it does demand a certain degree of speculation. One possibility is that she simply doesn’t want the job past the election, whether because it’s exhausting, because she doesn’t like working in the administration, or because she actually does plan on running for president in 2016 and wants to have some independence and distance from the Obama administration by then.
She says she is moving on and isn’t running for president, but, if that is true, it truly spells the end of the Clinton dynasty. I suppose Chelsea could emerge as a compelling politician in a few years, but I find it hard to believe that Hill & Bill are done trying to run this country again.
Clinton would be 69 years-old on election day in 2016, but Joe Biden would be seventy-four. For context, Ronald Reagan turned seventy a couple of weeks after he was inaugurated. Clinton would be on the margin, but Biden would simply be too old, especially to serve two terms. So, who would be the logical successor, assuming Obama has served two terms?
I don’t think we’ve seen the end of Hillary’s presidential ambitions. One big question is whether or not the Obama administration would get behind her. And what would Hillary do with herself in 2013 and 2014? And where’s the new blood? Who might emerge out of nowhere the way Obama did in 2006-2007?
