Are Hillary Clinton’s post-election antics part of an effort to “keep her options open” in case she decides to run again in 2020, the year Democrats will have to select a nominee to challenge President Donald Trump?
It’s not as crazy as it sounds, according to former National Journal columnist Ron Fournier, who reported via Twitter on Monday that “people close to” Hillary Clinton are not ruling out the possibility of a future run.
Challenging the “legitimacy” of the 2016 election results — by participating in recount efforts colored by allegations of fraud and foreign hacking — is part of a plan by Clinton’s team to lay the groundwork for another presidential run, Fournier wrote.
Raising doubts about legitimacy of election, even w/out overturning result, is part of Clinton's plans to keep her options open for 2020
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 28, 2016
Conventional wisdom suggests that after suffering such a shocking defeat to Donald Trump in this year’s election — eight years after suffering a stunning loss to Barack Obama in the Democratic primary — Hillary Clinton would have no desire to run again. And who could blame her?
But Fournier’s sources seem to think otherwise.
@matthewjdowd people close to her disagree. Perhaps they're projecting.
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) November 28, 2016
Clinton, who recently turned 69, has been involved in a series of “random” viral encounters with “average” voters since conceding defeat in the election, which might suggest some desire to remain in the political conversation.
This is also why she’s “randomly” appeared with so many Dem operatives/PR flacks in grocery stores and on hiking trails recently, btw. https://t.co/dNSbwQp18I
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) November 28, 2016
Clinton recently snapped selfies at a grocery store in Chappaqua, N.Y., while doing some last minute Thanksgiving shopping with her family. Former President Bill Clinton was reportedly “busy looking at cheese.”
The last thing on one NY woman's Thanksgiving shopping list? A selfie with Hillary Clinton at the grocery store: https://t.co/ckgDFlDysc pic.twitter.com/pRa9gJ5vb5
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) November 24, 2016
Two weeks earlier, Clinton “randomly” encountered a “heartbroken” voter while hiking in the Chappaqua wilderness. Some critics alleged that the photo might have been staged, citing evidence that the woman, Margot Gerster, had previously met Clinton at a fundraiser hosted by Gerster’s parents.
Woman sad about election bumps into Hillary Clinton while hiking https://t.co/WZDHVX2AfZ pic.twitter.com/LJztTqlt24
— CTV News (@CTVNews) November 12, 2016
These encounters seem about as spontaneous her entire presidential campaign, which was excruciatingly conventional, and produced self-parodying headlines such as: “Hillary Clinton to Show More Humor and Heart, Aides Say.”
If Hillary Clinton does decide to run in 2020, she would have a chance to become the oldest person in American history (at age 73) to win a first term as president, breaking the record set by Donald Trump.
Trump, for his part, does not seem very concerned about his reelection, even though he hasn’t even been sworn in yet. He has assured us the people he chooses for his cabinet “will run our government for the next 8 years.”
Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
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