Definitely maybe: Chelsea opens the door to running for office -- eventually

“Hillary, without the charisma” sounds like just what the political doctor ordered for the ol’ US of A.

Imagine what would have to happen to America generally and the Democratic Party specifically over the next 10-15 years for Chelsea Clinton to become a top political prospect.

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Which liberal, disgusted with Bill’s centrism and Hillary’s epic failure to hold off Trump, would want to roll the dice in a big spot on Clinton 2.0?

“At federal level, as much as I abhor so much of what President Trump is doing, I have a great amount of gratitude for what my congresswoman and my senators are doing to try to stop him at every point,” Clinton said.

“While I disagree with the president … I think my family … is being really well represented. But if that were to change, if my city councillor were to retire, if my congresswoman were to retire, my senators, and I thought that I could make a positive impact, then I think I would really have to ask my answer to that question [of whether to run for office].

“For me it’s a definite no now but it’s a definite maybe in the future because who knows what the future is going to bring?”

Eh, that’s pretty noncommittal. On the other hand, no one capable of a soundbite this politically well-scripted has ruled out running completely:

“For me, sometimes, I think I’m just so fundamentally my mother’s daughter that I’m far more outraged by the Trump administration ripping children away from their families at the border and not having reunified those children with their families now for months, than I am about anything he has ever done to my families.”

We joke about a “George P. Bush vs. Chelsea Clinton” election in 2036 but it’s not as unlikely as we’d all wish.

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Although George would still need to get past Ivanka in the Republican primary. And Bushes haven’t fared well against Trumps thus far.

Let’s face it, Chelsea could grab a House seat today if she wanted one. Between her name recognition and the bottomless well of money she’d have from the Clinton network for her campaign, she might as well run unopposed. It’s with higher offices that things turn more intriguing. Stephen “redsteeze” Miller suggested that Andrew Cuomo vacating the governor’s seat for whatever reason might clear a path for her, but I don’t know. Chelsea launching her political career by asking New Yorkers to place her in charge of the entire state would be hubristic even for a Clinton.

What about Senate, though? Cuomo’s probably not going anywhere for awhile — thanks to lefty antipathy, his presidential chances were DOA even before last week’s mega-gaffe — but it’s possible Kirsten Gillibrand will be leaving the Senate sooner rather than later. She might, gulp, be elected president. Or she might just quit to focus on her presidential campaign. If she does, the “Chelsea for Senate” pitch writes itself: She’s going to fill mom’s old Senate seat!” Recall that before Gillibrand was appointed to fill Hillary’s vacancy, Caroline Kennedy was considered as a potential appointee. In fact, decades before Hillary held the seat, Robert Kennedy held it. “United States Senator from New York” is practically a hereditary sinecure for Democratic nepotists. The fact that New York’s other senator is currently minority leader would also make a Chelsea candidacy more palatable to voters: Chuck Schumer already wields so much power nationally that the state can afford to gift the other seat to a young dynast.

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The only thing standing in her way is the probably inevitable primary challenge from the left. Some Bernie-type a la Cynthia Nixon would jump in and hit her hard, bellowing that the country can’t afford any more squishy, charmless Clintons. But it probably wouldn’t work. Chelsea has always been a sympathetic figure for most of the country, having been placed under the microscope as a child and then subjected to endless unflattering headlines about mom and dad. And if Nixon couldn’t stop Cuomo this year, what reason is there to think that she or some Nixon-type could stop Chelsea? For cripes sake, if you can’t bump off a dynastic scion as lackluster as Cuomo, you’re not going anywhere against Chelsea.

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