Did Julian Assange’s Recent Tweet Confirm That Clinton Will Make a Third Presidential Bid?
There is trouble in the Clinton paradise again. No, Monica and Paula did not drop by for a What Happened book tour brunch. But, there have been credible reports that Bill and Hillary are not on speaking terms. The reported cause is that Bill thinks his wife and former Secretary of State has pushed the blame game—and possibly Russia narrative—too far. (Source: “Insider claims Bill Clinton is ‘heartsick’ over Hillary’s book tour,” Page Six, October 9, 2017.)
The former President apparently hates the title of the book. But the couple’s marital dispute might have risen from a less literary and darker well, perhaps another presidential bid. Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame may have tweeted about this very prospect. The question, then, is did Julian Assange’s recent tweet confirm that Clinton will make a third presidential bid?
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Search for “Julian Assange on Hillary Clinton presidential bid” and it won’t be hard to find what seems like an incredible claim. The Wikileaks star tweeted the following.
Hillary Clinton is clearly trying to position herself to run in 2020. Such ambition knows no odds. Recall that she bet on Obama's assassination rather than concede in 2008. https://t.co/ZuBiMMaIZJ
— Julian Assange ???? (@JulianAssange) October 25, 2017
The popular website Infowars jumped on the tweet. (Source: “JULIAN ASSANGE: HILLARY IS “CLEARLY” PREPARING TO RUN AGAIN IN 2020,” Infowars, October 25, 2017.)
But, it’s not alone.
Paul Brenes, a historian at Yale University, presented logical reasons why Hillary might run again. (Source: “Hillary 2020? Trump Better Hope Not,” The Washington Post, October 24, 2017.)
In one of Trump’s latest tweets—it’s hard to keep track, there are so many—he insinuated that he hopes Hillary does run in 2020. Braggadocio aside, Trump would have much to fear from Hillary running again. She could beat him this time—unless Trump’s record is absolutely stellar. That is, apart from the performance of a handful of Dow Jones driving stocks on Wall Street.
The tweet by Julian Assange on the prospect of another Hillary Clinton presidential bid—specifically a Hillary Clinton Presidential Bid 2020—starts to become eerily plausible. If Trump fails to improve the lives of the many who voted for him—some of the old-fashioned Democrats in states like Pennsylvania—the Democrats could use Hillary Clinton as a tough candidate. She would be able to use all kinds of “I told you so,” “I warned you about him,” and “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” arguments to win back the lost children of the Democratic Party.
Will Hillary Clinton Run in 2020?
Is Hillary running in 2020? The short answer is, don’t rule it out. The longer answer explains why Hillary Clinton could not only run, but win in 2020. The idea of Hillary running again in 2020, therefore, goes beyond the recent Julian Assange Hillary Clinton tweet. There have been concerns about her health. Some are convinced that Hillary has Parkinson’s, but these may be inconvenient rumors. Rather, consider Hillary Clinton’s ambition. Days before losing the 2016 election, Hillary tweeted a picture of her teenage self on her birthday.
Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016
This combination of ambition and confidence is rare. In fact, it has only one match in Washington today: Donald Trump. When Al Gore lost to George W. Bush, he found that he was much more interesting and capable as a new Noah, prophesizing about the coming climate change-induced floods. We’re all still waiting with our arks parked in the backyard, but Gore has gone to win no less than a Nobel prize and an Oscar. Few, even those who backed him or voted for him, thought George “Dubya” Bush to be the second coming of Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. Gore was far more qualified on paper. But, less interesting perhaps, for better or worse.
When President Carter lost the 1980 election, he reinvented himself as a humanitarian, becoming the most popular ex-POTUS ever. He seems to have found great joy. Few people exude such gratitude for a life well lived as Jimmy Carter. He was beaten by a less technically competent but more charismatic Ronald Reagan.
The Democrats could have fielded a smarter and equally charismatic version of Bill Clinton in 1988: Gary Hart. The Senator from Colorado, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, helped run the McGovern campaign. Fearing a Persian Gulf War in 1980, Hart served as reserve lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, spending 10 days on active duty with the Navy’s Sixth Fleet.
Hart even wrote books and practiced law. A personal scandal involving Donna Rice ruined a campaign that could have beaten Vice President George Bush. But, alas, Governor Michael Dukakis won the nomination. He lacked Hart’s charisma and appeal, even if he had served his State of Massachusetts well.
Hillary Clinton’s Ambition Is Boundless
Hillary Clinton is more ambitious than all the presidents and candidates cited above. She has also built a stronger following now than ever. Her main political interest is quite simply: herself. Her book is about…herself. The only aspect of it where she isn’t doing something “to herself” is taking the blame for her loss to Trump.
Consider the past 40 years. American history is filled with excellent presidential candidates who lost, or had to retire from the race, to lesser candidates. Vice President Henry Wallace lost the chance to follow Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president in 1945 to Harry S. Truman.
People like Wallace or Carter lost because they were too idealistic—in the “nice” sense of the term. Others like Hart lost due to a personal peccadillo—which would matter very little today—but was an instant political office killer if uncovered 30 years ago. The Clinton Lewinsky scandal brought all that to an end. Otherwise, Trump with his undeniable infidelities and two divorces, would never have made it past the first primary.
Therefore, to beat Trump, history shows that good candidates, even the best ones, can lose due to unexpected circumstances, a failure to get their message across, a fluke of history, or a skeleton in the closet who decides to come out for air.
If the Democrats want to beat Trump in 2020, they will have to do more than field the candidate. They will have to choose the candidate that poses the fewest risk. Everything must have been written and said about this candidate. His/her darkest secrets, pranks, mistakes, misdemeanors involving furniture in the White House, and statements about “deplorables” must be known.
The Democratic Party Cannot Take Another Loss to Trump
The Democrats cannot afford to lose twice to Trump. It could end up breaking the Party, forcing it into a deep depression, from which only a total overhaul of the American political system can result. Therefore, even the Republican establishment must back the next Democrat whose name appears on the ballot in November 2020. There’s only one person who fulfills these fundamentals.
That person is Hillary Clinton, of course. Hillary 2020 makes the highest political sense. Many of the teenagers who were 15-17 and could not vote in 2016 would support her. Americans know everything about her, including her bouts of contempt and potential illnesses. Nothing could shock them anymore.
It’s no longer a question of if Hillary Clinton is running in 2020. It’s more an issue, for the Democrats anyway, that Hillary Clinton must run in 2020. She can run the next campaign on auto-pilot, given that it would be the third time she’s done it—fourth if you count her husband’s campaign in 1992. Where the Democrats should invest their efforts, time, and money should be the vice-presidential nominee.
The Democrats can pick the best candidate for VP rather than the most electable one. As for Hillary, she would not mind. She’s so ambitious that winning and adding the title “President of the United States” while breaking the White House glass ceiling would be more than sufficient. Before her mandate runs out, she could resign gracefully due to health or any other personal concern. It would not matter because she will have already made history. That’s why the choice of VP running mate will be the true test in 2020.
Meanwhile, Americans remain amazed by the strange combination of a lopsided economy. Its only strong point is the record peaks of the Dow Jones index. Trump’s plans to make America great again haven’t come to fruition.
America is also facing increasing international competition and threats to its economic/financial supremacy from China and Russia. By 2020, the Russians and Chinese may have succeeded even to pose a threat against the U.S. dollar, buying crude oil in yuan or rubles, for example. Who better than Hillary Clinton, with her complete absorption in Russia-related ordeals and tribulations, to face off against Trump?
If there’s one thing that Hillary has taught Americans, it’s that nobody should count her as finished. She made it through the Lewinsky scandal seemingly unscathed. She lost to Obama. She lost to Trump. She has been vaccinated against any political challenge; she’s immune and she can defeat Trump in 2020.
