Chelsea Clinton Means Jenna Bush

Was it an expression of fatherly pride, or a displacement of family ego? According to a report in the Boston Globe on Thursday, Bill ClintonBill Clinton disclosed to People magazine that his daughter Chelsea might be contemplating a run for the Presidency. "'She realized her mother lost Iowa 100 percent because of younger voters,'said Clinton. She was upset, bawled, went to her employer and said, 'Look, you got to let me go or give me an indefinite leave of absence. I'm not letting my mother go down like this.' "

Considering how often Chelsea ClintonChelsea Clinton has appeared at her mother's campaign stops, there is no doubt that she has shown her mother a lot of support. But, to publicly conjecture that his daughter has been inspired by the experience to pick up the family torch, is quite another. Does America really need another Clinton running the country? It all depends on what your priorities are: upholding a tradition of family rule in the United States, or electing the best possible candidate to the Presidency.

Without a doubt, Chelsea Clinton has grown up in politics. If anyone understands what it means to live it, it is her. Unfortunately, recent history does not support the former President proposing that his daughter step in the ring. Political authority ought not be hereditary, especially in democracies. Though Hilary Clinton's post-First Lady career as a New York congressperson is admirable, she'd always been a professional. Not so with Chelsea. Besides, why invoke her stepping in the ring, given what this might portend for the Bush family?

With two Presidents already, the idea that Jenna BushJenna Bush might one day be President ought to be enough to stop anyone making such suggestions altogether.