FeedHillary in 2016??
September 8, 2012 in DNC Convention, White House 2016
As soon as FMR President Bill Clinton finished delivering his rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, the buzz was renewed about whether Hillary Clinton will throw her hat into the ring for President in 2016. While no one knows for sure what her decision will be (including I suspect Hillary Clinton at this point), let’s look at where all of the current political signs point.
Hillary will be stepping down as U.S. Secretary of State soon, even if President Obama wins re-election. That will give her sufficient “separation” from the policies of the second Obama term to enable her to chart her own political platform for a future candidacy without any of the potential “baggage” from a second Obama term in office. She was also conveniently absent from the 2012 DNC Convention – doing her job in diplomacy in Beijing, China – and so was not caught up in the political fray of the convention. By most accounts, Hillary Clinton has earned high marks for her handling of a number of difficult foreign policy matters with an intellectual mastery of the issues and the political savvy and diplomacy skills of someone who has “lived” in the political world for decades. Plus, she can capitalize on the fact that some voters who have experienced “buyers remorse” since voting for Obama in 2008 are fervently wishing she – or Bill – were in the White House now.
As someone who has run for office several times and experienced the difficulty women candidates often encounter in walking a tight rope between being a strong and ambitious leader and being a “too brash” woman, I can tell you she is doing all the right things to soften and warm-up her image to appeal to voters. Letting her hair grow long or pulled back from her face lately instead of being a near perfect manicured coif helps Hillary look more informal and down to earth, especially after all those sexist news articles early in her public career mocking her changing hair styles. And, being spotted dancing and drinking beer at a Columbia bar as she was earlier this year also gives her a more approachable, “average Joe” image.
Finally, Bill Clinton’s prominent role at the DNC Convention and in the Obama re-election campaign, will earn both Bill and Hillary Clinton IOU’s from President Obama and his team as well as the opportunity to reap the fringe benefits of Bill’s more intricate involvement in the fall campaign and the potential ability to transfer some of the organization and personnel from the 2012 campaign to 2016.
While some sources say that Hillary Clinton is looking forward to a bit of a well-deserved rest, and others say she may inaugurate a new foundation for children after she leaves the State Department, it is clear that, in any event, she is placing herself in a good position to run for President in four years if she chooses to do so. Only time will tell whether Hillary Clinton runs for President. Four years is a long way off politically, but any potential candidate is probably no more than two years away from making a decision about whether to run (unless President Obama loses, in which case the jockeying for 2016 among Democrats will start the day after the election). Hillary Clinton will be 69 years old in 2016, no older than Ronald Reagan was when he was elected to his first term. And, she will certainly have a strong advantage over most other candidates given all of these factors and more.
NOTE: For fair disclosure, this author notes that she was involved in several capacities in Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential Campaign. However, her judgments remain the same regardless of her prior involvement.
September 17th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
believe hillary will be offered the presidency of yale and she will accept. this will give her a platform to address the issues of the day and travel through the country and make friends for future campaign contributions. it will be great having her in new haven. plus she will have over two years to make up her mind. only a 50 minute drive back and forth. bill will love it.
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