Guest Contributor A. Eritas
The prestigious Real Clear Politics has a very serious article up by Charles Lipson;
"Hillary Clinton's Coming Legal Crisis"
Extract;"The latest release of Hillary Clinton emails entails real risks for her, churning just beneath the surface of her successful primary campaign. True, Democratic voters have shown little interest, and the mainstream media only a bit more. Their focus, when they do look, is on the number of documents now considered classified, their foreign-policy revelations, and the political damage they might cause. These are vital issues, but Clinton faces a far bigger problem. She and her closest aides could be indicted criminally.
Secretary Clinton is exposed twice over. First, she used an unsecured, home-brew server to send and store reams of classified materials. Second, in her official capacity, she worked closely with major donors to the Clinton Foundation. Each poses legal risks, with potential ramifications for the Democratic frontrunner, her party, and the Obama administration."
Lipson makes a strong case and he is not alone with his learned conjecture. Neither is the possibility of a candidate withdrawing when in a strong position without precedent. George McGovern's vice-presidential running mate Thomas Eagleton withdrew his candidacy after being nominated (it turned out he had electric shock therapy for depression which he had not mentioned before being selected.)
Thus should Hillary Clinton have to withdraw when the campaign is well underway it would be highly unlikely that an unknown could just step in and assume the front-runner position. This especially as the Republicans might at that point have finished their nomination process, at least to the degree that their nominee was certain.
Who then could jump in with the name recognition, gravitas, experience in affairs both domestic and foreign, and who is an experienced campaigner? Clearly O'Malley and Sanders are ruled out by most if not all of these requirements. Joe Biden appears to not have the heart for a campaign (and his age may also preclude him) and there appears to be no one else who could make a credible candidate, except for one and his ready made running mate.
John Kerry, former senator, Democratic presidential candidate and current Secretary of State ticks all the boxes. That he lost by nearly 3 million votes, was considered a notorious flip-flopper and ran a poor campaign can safely be put in the distant past by the spin team.
John Edwards would bring his youthful grin, his charm with the ladies and soothing southern drawl. The fact that he cheated on his wife who was dying of cancer would have no effect on the campaign as bygones will no doubt be bygones.
After all-what is this compared to Hillary's alleged activities and Bill's notorious shenanigans?
"A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted Edwards in 2011 on six felony charges of violating multiple federalcampaign contribution laws to cover up an extramarital affair to which he admitted following his 2008 campaign. Edwards was found not guilty on one count, and the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining five charges, as the jury was unable to come to an agreement. The Justice Department dropped the remaining charges and did not attempt to retry Edwards."
There would also be a huge saving in costs as there masses of Kerry/Edwards buttons and stickers and all sorts of ephemera gathering dust which can be polished off and recycled-with the slogans still apt e.g."Women for Edwards" "Kerry/Edwards Democratic Values" etc. No the Democratic party has nothing to worry about, if one candidate is indicted then Kerry/Edwards is perfectly fitting to jump in
"The tradition Continues" Even the Presidents who were slaveholders speaks to it.
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