Op-ed floats Hillary Clinton as ideal replacement for Biden on Democratic ticket
For weeks prior to Sunday's announcement from President Joe Biden that he was ceasing his re-election campaign, pundits and commentators were ruminating over which prominent Democrats might serve as suitable replacement prospects.
Though the minds of many turned to figures such as Kamala Harris and a number of popular governors as potential successors for Biden, Pablo O'Hana, an opinion contributor for The Hill, asserted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is, in fact, the ideal choice.
O'Hana holds forth
Given her status as the sitting vice president, Harris is, to many, the natural heir apparent to Biden in the wake of his decision to step down from the Democratic Party ticket.
However, O'Hana opined in a piece entitled, “Ready for Round 2: Why we need Hillary more than ever,” that the woman who has already lost to Donald Trump once is the person best suited to take him on at the polls this November.
He confidently stated, “If Biden is to yield the arena, we must consider why Clinton is not just a fitting champion to take up the mantle, but perhaps the mightiest of all.”
“Clinton is a ready-made replacement,” O'Hana continued. “She possesses an unparalleled resume and an unmatched depth of experience. She has consistently redefined the roles she has served, from secretary of State and U.S. senator to first lady and Children's Defense Fund attorney,” O'Hana gushed.
Acknowledging Clinton's prior defeat at the hands of Trump, O'Hana assured readers that “there are millions of voters who, with a healthy dose of hindsight, regret not supporting her in 2016. This buyer's remorse reflects her undimmed capability and a broader disillusionment with Trump's divisive rhetoric.”
Harris coronation discouraged
Though not explicitly getting on board the Clinton train, the New York Times editorial board on Sunday warned Democrats against rushing to deliver something of an unearned coronation to Harris in the wake of Biden's exit from the race, as Breitbart noted.
The editors of the notoriously liberal outlet explained that while the idea of choosing Harris without a great deal of further deliberation may seem “reasonable,” there are also many risks attendant to such a move.
Voters, the board explained, deserve input on who will sit atop the party's ticket, adding that there are “other qualified Democrats who could take on Mr. Trump and win, and picking a candidate without a real contest is how the party got into a position of anointing a standard-bearer that large majorities of Democrats and independents had profound concerns about.”
As Fox News reported on Sunday evening, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton issued a statement joining Biden in his endorsement of Harris, seemingly scuttling any notion that the latter harbors any plans to throw her hat into the ring.
However, given the seemingly boundless political ambition that has characterized the Clintons for decades, many seasoned political observers know to never say never, particularly in an election year as unpredictable and tumultuous as this one.