The growing concern regarding Hillary Clinton’s health and fitness to serve leaves open a narrow possibility for progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders to erupt back on the scene with polls showing that not only Democrats, but Americans writ large wish the candidate were still in the race.
Hillary Clinton aimed to put concerns about her health to rest this week following a diagnosis of pneumonia, but many in the public wonder whether the statements made by her campaign team are the full story due to a number of inconsistencies in the claim.
First, Hillary was diagnosed with a non-contagious case of pneumonia, but her staff strangely claimed that a number of people in the office were sidelined with contagious pneumonia in their initial defense of her health and well-being.
Second, Bill Clinton not only referred to Hillary’s pneumonia several times as the "flu," which may have been an innocent attempt to downplay the hysteria, but also said that his wife has collapsed "frequently" over the years during an interview with Charlie Rose.
The inconsistencies have done little to quiet speculation that Clinton may ultimately be masking a serious ailment that would leave her to unhealthy to fulfill her duties as commander-in-chief or to complete a presidential term – a development that may ultimately open the door for Bernie Sanders to reemerge.
In a Rasmussen poll released on Friday, 48% of Democratic voters backed the return of Bernie Sanders in the event that Hillary was forced to drop out due to health related issues while 22% preferred Vice President Joe Biden – the latter of which is believed to be the odds-on-pick by the establishment to fill in for Clinton in the event of such a catastrophic scenario.
The support for Bernie Sanders appears to be based in large part to the progressive base’s frustration with Clinton and with lingering rumors that Hillary stole the race from the Vermont Senator in the wake of the WikiLeaks dump of DNC files exposing a nebulous scheme between the former Secretary of State’s campaign, the DNC and the mainstream media to spread false narratives about Bernie.
The Vermont Senator also holds a 56% approval rating nationally with only 36% of voters holding a negative view of him compared to Hillary Clinton who is viewed negatively by 56.2% of the electorate.
Joe Biden also fairs much better among the public that the former Secretary of State viewed favorably by 48% of the public and unfavorably by 36% of the public in the most recent polls.
Regardless of whether Hillary is masking a serious health issue she may soon begin to feel pressure to step out of the race while there is still time for a more popular Democratic candidate to advance a candidacy with the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls showing Clinton holding on to a meager 1.1% lead in a race that pundits thought was impossible for her to lose and her opponent continues to surge despite the media and the political establishment from both parties piling against him.
