The Democratic party is currently experiencing an identity crisis. Authoritarian leftism rose to prominence by the many exclamatory progressives. The leftist ideology demands change which establishment Democrats, like Hillary Clinton, just can’t offer. 

“I think that it is a time for some careful thinking about what wins elections, and not just in deep-blue districts where a Democrat and a liberal Democrat, or so-called progressive Democrat, is going to win,” said Clinton in a recent interview with MSNBC.

The 2024 ticket should be a left-wing populist or Marxist to juxtapose the probable Republican populist, but the establishment won’t let that happen. Private corporate donors and super PACs will hoist Clinton onto the ticket, although buying the bid doesn’t guarantee votes, as we learned from previous elections, including Clinton’s last stint in 2016.

 An op-ed from Douglas E. Schoen of Schoen Cooperman Research, a polling and consulting firm, and Andrew Stein, a former New York City council president and state assemblyman, show differently: Biden would be 82 on Inauguration Day 2025, leaving “a leadership vacuum in the party, which Mrs. Clinton viably could fill.”

However, card-carrying Democrats can’t stand Clinton. Maybe she can campaign with the guidance of her husband, former President Bill Clinton. He remains popular, although a problematic and scandalous sexual history still lingers over his legacy. Then again, using Bill Clinton as a means to boost electability may not be enough to demonstrate Hillary’s strength as America’s first female president. 

In 2020, Democrats ran establishment politician Joe Biden in an attempt to recenter the party. The DNC understood the party was swinging too far left for the ideological pendulum to handle. So, the establishment elite attempted to reel it in, but it didn’t pan out as hoped with Biden’s approval rating tanking. 

The Democrats’ domestic agenda is also in disarray with the congressional failure of Biden’s Build Back Better growing increasingly more likely. Other policies, or lack thereof, negatively weigh on the Biden administration. So, what went wrong besides electing a senile “old white man” to the most demanding and powerful position in the world? 

The elite class is out of touch with the American populace. Hillary would essentially be a second dose of the Biden administration, as she too will likely bow down to the progressives, leftism and the clamor of nonsensical politically “woke” outcries. She’s a career politician through and through, not a somewhat relatable outsider with populist appeal.

The majority’s patience has run thin with radical leftist antics and ideologies, and this could arguably lead to a more centrist candidate for the Democrats in 2024. Clinton could fit the bill as a corporate establishment left-of-center politician. Although, she has a knack for expressing her elitism, which isn’t especially well-regarded in a post-Trump America. Her comment of Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables” may have cost her the 2016 election. Remember, a lot of Sanders’ votes became run-offs for Trump.

Clinton is an experienced politician who is mildly younger but clearly more cognizant than the current president. To her credit, she has also taken a stance against the progressive wing rejecting far-left positions, which could possibly afford her a wider voting block to include moderates and centrists.

Democrats can anticipate having losses in both the Senate and the House, providing a chance for Republicans to control both chambers of Congress. Clinton could champion herself as the “change candidate.” Then again, Republicans will still want to investigate Clinton’s role in the Steele dossier, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court warrants and the Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy.

However, Democrats are unlikely to deny Biden’s nomination, if 1980’s Jimmy Carter versus Ted Kennedy is anything to go by. 

If Clinton seeks to become the answer for Democrats, she needs to amass support from independents and moderate Democrats. If Trump runs, she may have her desired blockbuster rematch. Maybe the “Orange Man” will be the igniter to a more moderate Democratic party.

All hypotheticals aside, do Democrats want to continue the old order with Harris? Or do they want to embrace something similar or reactionary to the Trump movement? Expect a Clinton 2024 appearance, but it may be short. Harris will be the ticket.

Brian J. Pfail, FCLC ’22, is a communications major from Ronkonkoma, N.Y.