The Next Clinton President: Chelsea?

With the odds of a Hillary Clinton presidency in 2008 growing long, like the shadows of late afternoon, the dream of a woman president grows smaller on the horizon. If Barack Obama wins the presidency this year, there will be a public perception that Hillary's time has past. If chosen as vice president, she would be nearly 70 years old before she would really be able to run again, facing the same perception.

However, as a Dagoban pundit once noted, "There is another..."

New York Magazine has a lengthy profile of former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, who would be eligible to run in 2016, that posits the notion briefly, but also engenders confidence in it. My favorite part, from a Chelsea Q&A with voters in Utah this past January:

Toward the end of the session, a graying gentleman with an Indian accent asked her to comment on the widespread notion that Senator Clinton is "calculating." He also asked if her mom has "a funnier side."

"After this administration, I want a president who's calculating," Chelsea answered unhesitatingly, to cheers and whistles. "I want a president who actually calculates what our real challenges are, and what our real solutions look like"

If you weren't impressed with Chelsea before (and I was), you will be after reading the piece. 2016 might be a little soon, but they said the same about Obama in 2004, and I sure as heck would write a check for Chelsea. But then, where does she get off not talking to reporters? Does she still deserve the "hands-off" treatment she enjoyed from the press, if not John McCain, during her time as first daughter?

As Snoop from HBO's The Wire said, "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." That's a lesson that Chelsea and her Mom have learned the hard way. In Chelsea's case, she's turning that notion on it's head. For all of the gratuitous bile heaved at her Mom, Chelsea is remaining walled off from the press for as long as possible.

Many, including David Shuster, have cried foul, reasoning that if Chelsea is going to campaign in public, then she ought to make herself available to the press. It's a fair point, but after the treatment her Mom has received from the media, Chelsea is wise to use the enourmous public goodwill she has fostered to keep them at bay. It's all about what the market will bear.

News outlets are free to go after her, and suffer the consequences, or they can refuse to cover the campaign events, and some other media source will step into the breach. Eventually, she will have to face them, but the Clintons are shrewd at claiming every possible advantage. Right now, the press can't make her do it, and she's better off not doing it. Even in this glowing feature piece, the writer throws in a few gratuitous digs, like describing how she fell in with "mean girls" at Stanford, and this intangible nugget:

That night at Weber State, as she was schmoozing admirers...Chelsea's eyes flashed at me from ten feet away when I asked a traveling campaign aide if she had ever told the Grey's Anatomy story before. "Her hearing is as good as her mother's," the aide advised with a laugh. Minutes later, I walked out of the student union with Chelsea's entourage, several feet behind her, and she glared at the aide, who sprang up to confer, then deftly slowed me down. "She's not used to having people in her space," the aide explained. "By 'people' you mean 'press'?" I asked. "Exactly." Days later, when I attended several events in Wisconsin, Chelsea looked right through me.

It's no wonder she wants to keep the hounds at bay for as long as possible.

Her repartee with voters demonstrates that she can handle tough questions. The previous exchange, plus several other, showcase a sharp wit and a ready grasp of politics:

One young man asked about Hillary's 2002 vote to authorize President Bush to conduct U.S. military operations in Iraq. "Has your mother ever shown remorse for her vote that's cost a million Iraqis their lives?"

Chelsea replied calmly, "She voted for putting the United Nations weapons inspectors back in. That's what the U.N. wanted to do. That's what Colin Powell and our military supported us doing. She cast a vote based on the best available evidence. Perhaps you had clairvoyance then, and that's extraordinary."

The young man interrupted: "It was a vote to attack Iraq!"

"Well, on that we have a difference," Chelsea shot back. "I urge you, sir, to listen to the debate and read the transcript ... I'm really glad my mom was the first person to write the Pentagon to ask how they were planning to end the war."

Letting Chelsea loose on the press might be what the doctor ordered for Hillary's ailing campaign, if it's not too late. Even if not, a politician with the charm of Bill Clinton, the smarts of Hillary Clinton, and an unblemished store of personal goodwill would be a frighteningly powerful adversary for the Republicans and the press alike.

Another positive: I'll be pushing 50 by then, which will very likely preclude me from donning a tight Chelsea T-shirt and shooting "Chelsea-Chap" R&B videos. (The threat alone could put her over the top.)

A lot can happen in 8 years. A 36 year-old female president might seem farfetched now, but then again, rent a copy of Predator and tell me you see 2 governors-in-the making. Either way, look out for Chelsea.

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