Looking ahead to 2016 [View all]

[BlueStreak]

I don't take the Obama election for granted, and the 2016 scenarios don't really depend on Obama's reelection, as Obama has not groomed an obvious successor.

There has been a lot of speculation about Hillary. I doubted that for 2 reasons:

1) I wasn't sure she would want to take that on at her age. She isn't "too old" for it, but she has been working awfully hard for a long time.

2) I doubted that America would want to "step back a generation" after turning to Obama's generation.

But recently I am more convinced that is a viable scenario. Bill Clinton has been very engaged in this campaign, and there are some rumors that he is actively encouraging Hillary to prepare for 2016.

I think this makes sense on many levels.

a) America will one day have a female President. Hillary is by far the most experienced woman at that level, and probably more qualified than any woman we will see for a generation.

b) The "back one generation" issue is not a big problem, especially if the ticket bridges generations. After all, that is the same as the Obama/Biden ticket -- experience and youthful energy.

c) Clearly there is an effort to promote Julian Castro. I cannot see him being viable as a Presidential candidate in 2016, but he could certainly be in line for VP. If they go that route, he will probably take a cabinet position during the second Obama term (presuming Obama wins). Clinton/Castro would be a dynamite ticket. It would be very solid with the Latino community and with women. It would be soft on old white men, but they aren't with us very much today. And a lot of them must have a certain level of respect for Hillary. She's earned that.

d) Can you imagine that ticket being pushed by their top four surrogates? Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Michelle Obama? Talk about an A team.