Why Clinton Is Wrong for 2016

Democrats are all swept up in the prospect of Hillary Clinton in 2016, but that idea is actually a terrible one, writes David Frum on CNN. Rather than representing new, fresh ideas, Clinton is simply "next in line." She's 14 years older than President Obama, and as such, she "bring[s] forward not only the ideas of the past, but also the personalities and the quarrels of the past." A Clinton campaign could be beset with questions about the ethical standards of her husband's White House, and of his post-White House career and foreign earnings.

But the biggest problem is that the Democrats wouldn't experience the "party renewal" that is needed after holding the White House for eight years, "a self-appraisal and a debate over its way forward." If she doesn't run, it would open the campaign up to other candidates with vastly different ideas, thus sparking "a real debate that would summon forth hard thinking about how Democrats might govern their country if returned for a third presidential term." Forgoing such a discussion is "not a formula for an effective presidency—or a healthy democracy." Click for Frum's full column. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)