‘Clinton Is Running Again… And I Can Prove It’ Claims Former Bush Speechwriter
“Here’s the proof,” leads Matt Latimer, former speechwriter for George W. Bush, presenting his arguments for the claim that Hillary Clinton will be running for the presidency again in 2020. “… this is just a statement of simple facts. And the facts are clear that the former secretary of state is doing everything she needs to do to run for the White House one more time.”
“And I can prove it.”
According to his article for Politico, Mr. Latimer has a laundry-list of evidence showing that Hillary Clinton is preparing for another run at the White House. Among his points, he cites the fact that Clinton signed a new book deal, for “money that she does not need,” and that a tour will surely expose her to further ridicule but keep her in the headlines. He also noted recent shots at Trump on Twitter, which made her sound like “she was still on the campaign trail” – which he alleges is because she is.
Vanity Fair notes that many of Latimer’s points are somewhat cherry-picked, but still compelling; right now, the Democratic party is struggling to recover from their staggering losses in the 2016 election, and the field for Democratic candidates is wide-open and fairly sparse. Meanwhile, other sources have suggested that Bernie Sanders will be “too old” for another run in 2020, at 79. In fairness, they’ve said the same about Elizabeth Warren, another strong candidate for Democratic nominee in 2020, and Warren is younger than both Trump and Clinton.
Potential candidates aside, Latimer’s reasoning runs as follows: first, that the scandal-ridden Clinton Global Initiative has dramatically scaled back its operations since Hillary’s defeat, something that even Clinton supporters were clamoring for. The CGI produced blow after blow for the Clinton campaign; which, according to Latimer, offers now advantage now apart from a political one.
Second, Clinton still has not spoken up to stop rumors that she may be making a run for Mayor of New York. Current Mayor Bill de Blasio supported her candidacy, after all. But, he argues, it again keeps her political career in the public eye.
Third, as previously noted, she keeps drawing public attention for no discernible reason, when “most defeated rivals disappear after their loss.”
Finally, Latimer argues that Clinton said as much in her November concession speech, in which, he says, she spent more time talking about the future, and her future specifically, than about the past campaign.
“So my friends, let us have faith in each other, let us not grow weary, let us not lose heart, for there are more seasons to come. And there is more work to do.”
Latimer doesn’t just make points about what Hillary Clinton is doing now, however. He compares her to Ronald Reagan, who also ran three times before winning the presidency – as did, as Latimer notes, Donald Trump himself. He also points out that Al Gore might well have beaten George H. W. Bush if he had chosen to run a third time; Bush barely won against lackluster opponent John Kerry in the 2004 election.
He carries on to point out that all of Hillary Clinton’s best political moments have come when she was perceived as being at a disadvantage; she was widely despised in the 1990s, until the Monica Lewinski scandal. In her race for the Senate, the deciding factor was when a Republican opponent appeared to physically bully her. That’s an incomplete list. And in 2016, she appeared strong, confident, and by all accounts seemed to have the presidency in the bag – until she didn’t.
Latimer’s proof might not be nearly as concrete as he suggests, but he’s not coming out of left-field either. At the very least, Hillary Clinton might well be running for president again – and he can make a compelling case.
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
