Hillary Clinton’s Problems Inspire Joe Biden
Published in Le Temps
(Switzerland) on 25 August 2015
by Stéphane Bussard (link to original)
The email controversy is currently taking a toll on the Democrat’s campaign. The vice president is thinking about a possible White House candidacy.
Is the inevitable Democratic candidate in the running for America’s November 2016 presidential election on the verge of becoming undesirable? In the Democratic camp, the email affair in which Hillary Clinton is entangled is bringing forth gusts of anxiety. The former secretary of state, who directed American diplomacy from 2009 to 2013, just went through the worst weekend of her electoral campaign. In Las Vegas, faced with incisive questions from the media on the subject of the private email address used while she was in office, she appeared overwhelmed by the events. The hot favorite, she is nevertheless sanctioned in the polls, which reveal that she does not have the trust of a majority of Americans. The alert is such that certain Democratic figures have thought or are thinking of declaring their candidacy.
If the name of ex-president Al Gore has briefly been mentioned, that of Joe Biden is being taken more seriously. Against all expectations, the current vice president of Barack Obama met with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the head of the left wing of the Democratic Party, on Saturday in his Washington residence. During a lunch that lasted one hour, they talked about the presidential race. The American commentators saw this as a clear indication that Joe Biden would be ready, if necessary, to become a candidate while trying to obtain the crucial support of the Massachusetts senator.
These behind-the-scenes maneuvers are the greatest of the Democrats’ worries – because Hillary Clinton’s email controversy is intensifying. Last week, federal judge Emmet Sullivan declared that the senator had not conformed to the administration’s directives with regard to the usage of a private email address. The FBI is currently analyzing Hillary Clinton’s private server after the Democrat delivered more than 300,000 messages to the State Department and deleted as many, judging them to be of a private nature. But on the other side of the Atlantic, people are asking by virtue of what privilege the former secretary of state might judge for herself what is and isn’t in the interest of the public.
Some 60 emails examined by the inspector general of the Intelligence Committee, Charles McCullough, contained classified information that should never have been transmitted through a private server. According to him, two emails identified in Hillary Clinton’s inbox were “top secret.” The former secretary of state is defending herself by stating that many of the messages were only classified a posteriori. But as chief diplomat, one would say that she should have known that such and such information would one day, even a posteriori, need to be classified. Nevertheless, there is an argument in favor of the Democratic candidate. Washington tends to classify everything, even information known by the public. It would therefore be inappropriate, her campaign team has judged, to claim that she knowingly violated the rules of the administration.
The manner in which Hillary Clinton managed her mail nevertheless raises real questions of ethics and transparency. The fact that she worked exclusively with a private server protected her from all demands made by the media by virtue of the law on freedom of information or by Congress. The Clinton camp refuses this assertion, pointing out that the emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton must have gone through the administration’s inbox. Yet, this is not the case. For example, her close colleague Huma Abedin also used an address linked to Hillary Clinton’s private server, and it is doubtlessly through this channel that they communicated.
The vox populi is giving a clear signal. The fact that different rules would apply to Clinton does not go over well. The former secretary of state may not have violated the letter of the rules applied to mail, but she violated their spirit. At a time when Washington’s elect are the targets of a populist resurgence, many are those who sternly criticize Hillary Clinton’s attitude.
For Hillary Clinton, considered among the Democrats to be the most qualified for the position of president of the United States because of her experience as first lady, senator and finally secretary of state, the email affair has the potential to act as a time bomb. It is all the more damaging that the candidate recently renounced her habitual little political calculations and took risks. She has given addresses as substantial as they were sensible on both internal and external politics.
Would Joe Biden be a credible alternative? As popular and liked as he is, especially after the tragic loss of his son Beau at the beginning of the summer, the vice president remains a plan B, and his chances of winning the presidential race are considered low, as much as the gap between the “socialist” Bernie Sanders and the former secretary of state is narrow. Hillary Clinton is still not ready to throw in the towel. Tenacious, she still has solid support within the party and a formidable campaign machine at her disposal. If, however, the email affair were bound to degenerate, would Elizabeth Warren, the popular left-wing muse, be ready to come out of reserve to “save” the party?
Is the inevitable Democratic candidate in the running for America’s November 2016 presidential election on the verge of becoming undesirable? In the Democratic camp, the email affair in which Hillary Clinton is entangled is bringing forth gusts of anxiety. The former secretary of state, who directed American diplomacy from 2009 to 2013, just went through the worst weekend of her electoral campaign. In Las Vegas, faced with incisive questions from the media on the subject of the private email address used while she was in office, she appeared overwhelmed by the events. The hot favorite, she is nevertheless sanctioned in the polls, which reveal that she does not have the trust of a majority of Americans. The alert is such that certain Democratic figures have thought or are thinking of declaring their candidacy.
If the name of ex-president Al Gore has briefly been mentioned, that of Joe Biden is being taken more seriously. Against all expectations, the current vice president of Barack Obama met with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the head of the left wing of the Democratic Party, on Saturday in his Washington residence. During a lunch that lasted one hour, they talked about the presidential race. The American commentators saw this as a clear indication that Joe Biden would be ready, if necessary, to become a candidate while trying to obtain the crucial support of the Massachusetts senator.
These behind-the-scenes maneuvers are the greatest of the Democrats’ worries – because Hillary Clinton’s email controversy is intensifying. Last week, federal judge Emmet Sullivan declared that the senator had not conformed to the administration’s directives with regard to the usage of a private email address. The FBI is currently analyzing Hillary Clinton’s private server after the Democrat delivered more than 300,000 messages to the State Department and deleted as many, judging them to be of a private nature. But on the other side of the Atlantic, people are asking by virtue of what privilege the former secretary of state might judge for herself what is and isn’t in the interest of the public.
Some 60 emails examined by the inspector general of the Intelligence Committee, Charles McCullough, contained classified information that should never have been transmitted through a private server. According to him, two emails identified in Hillary Clinton’s inbox were “top secret.” The former secretary of state is defending herself by stating that many of the messages were only classified a posteriori. But as chief diplomat, one would say that she should have known that such and such information would one day, even a posteriori, need to be classified. Nevertheless, there is an argument in favor of the Democratic candidate. Washington tends to classify everything, even information known by the public. It would therefore be inappropriate, her campaign team has judged, to claim that she knowingly violated the rules of the administration.
The manner in which Hillary Clinton managed her mail nevertheless raises real questions of ethics and transparency. The fact that she worked exclusively with a private server protected her from all demands made by the media by virtue of the law on freedom of information or by Congress. The Clinton camp refuses this assertion, pointing out that the emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton must have gone through the administration’s inbox. Yet, this is not the case. For example, her close colleague Huma Abedin also used an address linked to Hillary Clinton’s private server, and it is doubtlessly through this channel that they communicated.
The vox populi is giving a clear signal. The fact that different rules would apply to Clinton does not go over well. The former secretary of state may not have violated the letter of the rules applied to mail, but she violated their spirit. At a time when Washington’s elect are the targets of a populist resurgence, many are those who sternly criticize Hillary Clinton’s attitude.
For Hillary Clinton, considered among the Democrats to be the most qualified for the position of president of the United States because of her experience as first lady, senator and finally secretary of state, the email affair has the potential to act as a time bomb. It is all the more damaging that the candidate recently renounced her habitual little political calculations and took risks. She has given addresses as substantial as they were sensible on both internal and external politics.
Would Joe Biden be a credible alternative? As popular and liked as he is, especially after the tragic loss of his son Beau at the beginning of the summer, the vice president remains a plan B, and his chances of winning the presidential race are considered low, as much as the gap between the “socialist” Bernie Sanders and the former secretary of state is narrow. Hillary Clinton is still not ready to throw in the towel. Tenacious, she still has solid support within the party and a formidable campaign machine at her disposal. If, however, the email affair were bound to degenerate, would Elizabeth Warren, the popular left-wing muse, be ready to come out of reserve to “save” the party?
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