Why is Hillary Clinton positioning herself to work with whoever wins the DNC Chair election?

| 1:01 pm EST February 24, 2017
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Since the election, Hillary Clinton has been carefully picking her spots in terms of political statements. She’s embraced the Women’s March and the Resistance against Donald Trump, but she’s made sure to allow those movements to develop organically instead of trying to lead them. Now she’s making her most direct political statement yet, regarding this weekend’s DNC Chair election. But she’s not endorsing a candidate. So what is she doing?

Hillary posted a three minute video today in which she made the case for the Democratic Party coming together and putting up a united front going forward. She referenced everything from the protests at airports to the fierce turnout at town halls. Her timing is unmistakably connected to tomorrow’s election of a new Chair of the Democratic National Committee. But this was not an attempt to get any particular candidate elected. Instead, it seemed aimed at pre-positioning herself to work with whoever the next DNC Chair ends up being.

What’s notable about this is that the main job of the next DNC Chair will be to help get Democrats elected in the small number of off-year races in 2017 and the far larger number of races in the 2018 midterms. Is Hillary planning to go out and campaign and help get certain Democrats elected? If so, she’ll need to have a good working relationship with whoever the DNC Chair ends up being, whether it’s Tom Perez from the Obama administration, Keith Ellison from the progressive wing, or one of the other finalists. But there may be more to it.

Four years is a lifetime in American politics, and during the chaotically unstable Donald Trump regime, four years will feel like infinity. But if Hillary Clinton has even the slightest currently inclination that she might ultimately consider running for president again in 2020, she would need to start by establishing a good relationship with the next DNC Chair — whoever that person ends up being – and then by helping Democrats retake Congress in 2018.

Watch the three minute video Hillary Clinton released today: