Saturday, May 28, 2016

Some Fascinating Speculation



I readily admit to not following U.S. politics too closely; my emotional resilience has limits. However, given the American media saturation coverage of Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, it has been hard to ignore the run-up to their respective parties' presidential nominations. Never, it seems, has either party offered such unpopular and unpalatable mainstream candidates.

In his column today, Tony Burman says there is ultimately little cause for concern if, as many are suggesting, Hillary Clinton will be forced to withdraw from the race should she be indicted for her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving as Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

Dismissing Bernie Sanders as unacceptable to the party establishment, Burman points out that unlike the Republicans, delegates to the Democratic convention are free to vote for any candidate, regardless of primary results, and he suggests that candidate may very well be Vice-President Joe Biden:
He originally declined to run due to the death of his son, but has told friends that he regrets that decision.

In early May, a story appeared on the Politico website that created considerable buzz. It quoted sources close to Biden indicating that, had he decided to run, Biden would have chosen Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. Warren is a widely respected financial authority who supports breaking up the big banks to prevent another global crisis. On Tuesday, she enthralled a Washington audience by tearing into Trump, calling him a “small, insecure money-grubber.” It was a devastating performance — a real carving up of Trump — that gave some indication of how effective she would be on the campaign trail.
Whether any of this comes to fruition is anyone's guess. I suspect, however, that given the impressiveness and integrity of Elizabeth Warren, she will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

4 comments:

  1. Tony's instincts have always been pretty good, Lorne. He may be onto something.

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    1. It would certainly add an exciting new dimension to the presidential race, Owen.

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  2. I first heard about this through an Ottawa back channel in March. My friend had been told by a buddy, a State Department honcho at the embassy, that Clinton could be indicted and the White House was getting Biden back into circulation in the public eye to fill her shoes if the FBI investigation lead to indictment. It was thought Hillary might be charged in mid-April but that has obviously come and gone. I'll see if there's anything new on that.

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    1. These are indeed interesting times that Hillary Clinton is living in, Mound. We eagerly await news of any new developments.

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