Stop The Speculation

The political punditry, which prefers speculation over reporting, is already tossing around guesses about whether Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden will be the Democratic candidate for President in 2016. This nonsense went into overdrive Sunday night when President Obama appeared with Clinton on "60 Minutes" and talked about how close they were and how well they worked together during her four years as Secretary Of State.

Here's my prediction: neither Clinton nor Biden will be the party's nominee next time around. In fact, I'll guess that neither of them will even enter the primaries. By 2016, Biden will be 72 years old and spent 45 years in public office from county councilman to Senator to Vice President. At that point, Clinton will be 69 years old and been around politics for over 40 years herself, dating back to her days as a member of the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry staff during the Watergate scandal, through her husband's gubernatorial years in Arkansas, to First Lady during his Presidency, and then on her own as Senator and Secretary of State.

For chrissake, let them retire! Yes, they'll have plenty of years in which to continue making contributions to our national discussions, but I'll be they'll want to do it as private citizens, without having to barnstorm the nation begging for votes and attending one rubber chicken dinner and state fair after another.

With them out of the way, who do I think the nominee will be? The field will be wide open on both sides, and we're still two years away from anyone beginning to seriously campaign for the spot. So, until then, can't we put the punditry on the back burner -- and turn the heat off -- please?

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