In a rather interesting op-ed piece from a Washington Post columnist, it is argued that Hillary Clinton could replace Kamala Harris as President Joe Biden’s vice president — a move that could help the president in his reelection bid to the White House.
Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Kathleen Parker expressed her belief that to help Biden win reelection amid calls for him to step aside because of his diminishing mental health, Democrats could put Hillary Clinton on the ticket with him.
Earlier this month, Parker released a piece titled “Democrats are wrestling with an age-old problem,” where she argued that Vice President Kamala Harris putting effort would do more harm than good for the Democratic ticket ahead of November’s election.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted in late May found that only 40% of Americans believe Harris would make a good president, while 51% said she would not.
Polling average by FiveThirtyEight shows Harris’ approval sinking underwater, with 49% of U.S. voters disapproving of the job she’s done as vice president and just 39% approving.
Harris’ polling isn’t much better than Biden’s, who held a 56% disapproval rating and only a 38% approval rating just before Thursday night’s debate.
The 81-year-old president is already the oldest to serve in history.
The Western Journal reported that an ABC News/Ipsos poll released in February found that a resounding 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old to seek reelection.
“The problem isn’t his numerical age,” Parker wrote in her op-ed.
“People age in different ways. In some cases, people hardly age at all, they’re so physically fit and mentally astute,” she added. “But even the most robust 80-year-old would be challenged to keep pace with the White House job. Far younger presidents have turned gray in the Oval Office.”
“Biden’s steady decline the past few years — his stumbles, his search for words, his occasional blank stare — has been impossible to ignore. Such change isn’t a reflection of character; it’s part of the natural order of life, and it isn’t ageist to take note,” she continued.
In Parker’s opinion, for Democrats to avoid losing to former President Donald Trump in November, they must put Clinton, 76, on the ticket with Biden and give Harris the luxury of serving as Attorney General or another position in a potential second Biden administration.
Notably, Harris previously served as attorney general of California.
Parker argued that adding Clinton to the Democratic ticket would assure voters who are concerned over Biden’s age that should anything happen to the 81-year-old incumbent, Clinton possesses the adequate abilities to assume the presidency.
The Washington Post columnist admitted that Clinton “might want no part of it, but it’s hard to retire when you feel your job isn’t done. If Biden needs to step down, even those who didn’t vote for Clinton would have confidence in her ability to keep the country on track. It’s just a thought, but worse ideas have met with regrettable success.”
Clinton has raised her profile once again in the political world in recent weeks, perhaps signaling she is on standby should Democrats replace Biden at their convention in August.
