A new survey that added the names of former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to the current field of Democratic 2020 presidential contenders found Clinton leading the candidates by a tight margin.
The Harvard-Harris poll was conducted last month after former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his candidacy. The survey put the former first lady’s support at 21 percent, followed by Joe Biden at 20 percent and Bernie Sanders at 12 percent.
Elizabeth Warren came in fourth place with nine-percent support, tailed by Pete Buttigieg and John Kerry at five percent each and Michael Bloomberg at four percent. Seven percent of respondents to the poll said they were still unsure about who they backed, while one percent indicated they do not plan to vote.
Clinton’s prospects have increased since Harvard/Harris released the results of a similar poll in October. The numbers from that survey had Clinton in second place with 18 percent behind Biden’s 19 percent.
Without Clinton and Kerry in the mix, Joe Biden leads the pack, with 28-percent support, according to RealClearPolitics’ national average of polls.
The former vice president has recovered after previously losing ground to Warren in some polls. However, Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has gained momentum, rising to a lead in polls for the critical early states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
While Clinton has repeatedly said she is not running, she has also repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility. She has maintained an active public persona since losing the 2016 race, going on book tours and making appearance on television and radio.
During a BBC interview last month, Clinton said she wants to “retire” President Trump:
I feel a sense of responsibility partly because you know my name was on the ballot, I got more votes, but ended up losing to the current incumbent in the White House who I think is really undermining our democracy in very fundamental ways. And I want to retire him.
Asked directly if she has plans to put her hat in the ring for the 2020 race, Clinton responded, “I say never, never, never say never,” adding, “I will certainly tell you: I’m under enormous pressure from many, many, many people to think about it. But as of this moment, sitting here in this studio talking to you, that is absolutely not in my plans.”
Some have speculated that Clinton could emerge as the Democratic nominee in the case of a brokered convention should no candidate manage to get a majority of delegates’ votes by the time the Democratic National Convention rolls around in July of next year.
Democrat commentator Ed Kilgore wrote that for the “first time in a long while a contested convention is an actual if still remote possibility” due to a crowded field, a proportional delegate system that encourages smaller candidates to hang around longer, and the presence of superdelegates — who are unpledged to any candidate at the convention.
And Democrat operatives Mark Penn and Andrew Stein predicted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed a year ago that Clinton will enter the race when the primaries are already underway.
Claims of a Russian conspiracy and the unfairness of the Electoral College shielded Mrs. Clinton from ever truly conceding she had lost. She was robbed, she told herself, yet again.… You can expect her to run for president once again. Maybe not at first, when the legions of Senate Democrats make their announcements, but definitely by the time the primaries are in full swing.
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has voiced his support for a Hillary run, despite initially supporting his former mistress, Kamala Harris. “Call me crazy, but from what I’ve seen so far, Clinton is the only candidate … who has the brains, the battle-tested brawn and the national presence to take out Trump,” Brown said.
In fact, according to the Federal Elections Commission, Clinton’s campaign is still active and raised $165,902.73 during the first six months of 2019. After expenses for that same period, that leaves the former first lady with $650,264.43 — ample seed money for an impromptu presidential campaign.
President Trump has welcomed the prospect of facing Clinton again. “I think that Crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race to try and steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren,” the president tweeted in October. “Only one condition,” he continued. ”The Crooked One must explain all of her high crimes and misdemeanors including how & why she deleted 33,000 Emails AFTER getting ‘C’ Subpoena!”
Photo: Screenshot of hillaryclinton.com
Luis Miguel is a writer whose journalistic endeavors shed light on the Deep State, the immigration crisis, and the enemies of freedom. Follow his exploits on Facebook, Twitter, Bitchute, and at luisantoniomiguel.com.
