ADVERTISEMENT

Politico Magazine Editor Argues Chelsea Clinton Should Run for Senate in Arkansas

Chelsea Clinton / Getty Images
December 4, 2017

A Politico Magazine article published Sunday urges former presidential daughter Chelsea Clinton to run for Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's seat in Arkansas.

Bill Scher, a contributing editor to Politico Magazine and co-host of the Bloggingheads.tv show "The DMZ," argues that "Clinton Should Run for Cotton's Senate Seat," remaining intentionally vague in his headline about which Clinton he is referring to.

Scher relays the rumor that Cotton might soon be tapped to run the CIA if current director Mike Pompeo replaces beleaguered Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"If Arkansas Democrats want to field a serious Democrat, there's only one name to consider. I'm talking, of course, about Clinton," he writes.

But Scher then rejects either a Hillary Clinton candidacy—"she lost Arkansas to Trump by 27 points"—or a Bill Clinton candidacy—he is "suffering a post-Weinstein Effect reassessment of his sexual misconduct, proven and alleged."

"That leaves us with one Clinton: Chelsea," Scher writes.

Chelsea, he notes, is "an Arkansas native, even though she hasn't lived there since she was 12," and has the Clinton name recognition without any baggage.

"Sure, she lives in Manhattan now and lacks a Southern accent," he argues. "But her mom bought her first house in New York two months before she launched her Senate bid, proving ZIP code ain't nothing but a number."

"Arkansas is inhospitable territory for any Democrat," Scher readily admits. "Therefore, the state party has little to lose by turning to Chelsea, and Chelsea has little to lose by returning home."