In an interview with Variety for its annual Power of Women New York issue, Chelsea Clinton says she is “not running for public office.” That’s the good news. The bad news is that she doesn’t seem to be completely ruling it out forever. From Variety:
Clinton has been grilled about a number of hypothetical political careers since she was a young girl, growing up in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion and the White House. “I really am constantly surprised by the stories of me running for, fill in the blank—Congress, Senate, City Council, the presidency,” Clinton said. “I really find this all rather hysterical, because I’ve been asked this question a lot throughout my life, and the answer has never changed.”…
She added, “If someone steps down or something changes, I’ll then ask and answer those questions at that time. But right now, no, I’m not running for public office.”
I think the key phrase here is “right now, no.” The caveat about someone stepping down or something changing is also significant. Last November the New York Post reported rumors were circulating that Chelsea was being groomed to run for the seat of Rep. Nita Lowey once she retired:
Chelsea could run for the seat in NYC’s 17th Congressional District once Lowey, a respected, 79-year-old career politician with nearly 30 years in office, decides to retire, we have exclusively learned.
Lowey’s district includes parts of Rockland and Westchester counties and, conveniently, Chappaqua, the Clinton family home base.
Lowey herself denied having any plans to step aside for Chelsea any time soon, telling the Daily Caller, “You’ll have to ask Chelsea. I’m running for office. I currently serve and the future will take care of itself. I will keep running.” So maybe Chelsea’s run for Congress won’t be happening right away, but a recent story at the Hill notes Chelsea’s high-profile political attacks on Twitter suggest she is gearing up for something:
Clinton has only stoked the rumors further, particularly on Twitter, where she has repeatedly gone after President Trump and his associates since Inauguration Day. On Sunday, she also took the opportunity to rail against Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for racially charged comments about immigrant babies.
As this tweet today points out, Chelsea is emoting all over Twitter on any number of issues:
In the last 7 days, @ChelseaClinton has been,
• Disgusted
• Disappointed
• Discouraged
• Outraged
• Horrified
• Worried pic.twitter.com/hLDdWqw5on— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) March 29, 2017
Chelsea is also publishing a children’s book titled “She Persisted” based on the hashtag which progressive began circulating last month. For someone who has no intention of running for office, she is very actively promoting herself as a political voice.
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