Ed Rendell said he expects that if Hillary Clinton runs for president, President Obama will talk Vice President Biden out of launching his own bid for the White House.
“I think down the road if Hillary decides to run, President Obama will be sort of the peacemaker who talks to the vice president,” Rendell, the former Pennsylvania governor, said Tuesday on Andrea Mitchell Reports. “I love Joe Biden, I think he’s done a great job as vice president … but you can’t stand in the way of history. History is poised for the first woman president if Hillary Clinton chooses to go down that road.”
An unusual joint interview with Obama last week left many wondering if this was an unofficial passing of the Democratic torch to Clinton. But to Rendell, the interview was simply a “signal that President Obama has an incredible level of appreciation for the way that she conducted her business and the way they came together as individuals.”
If she does run, Clinton will likely be criticized for her handling of the government’s response to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. During a global town hall on Tuesday, Clinton listed the attacks as one of her biggest regrets. Rendell told Mitchell that “nobody pitches a perfect game every time out,” and that if Clinton is question on Benghazi and asked to defend herself, “she’ll have a great record to fight back on.”
Ali Vitali is MS NOW's senior congressional correspondent and the host of "Way Too Early." She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet."