Hillary Clinton's New Workouts Speak Volumes
She is building stamina through tough new workouts with a personal trainer and yoga. She is talking about how to address income inequality without alienating corporate America. And she is reviewing who's who in the Democratic Party in Iowa, a crucial early voting state in the presidential cycle.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has said publicly that she will decide early next year whether she will undertake a second campaign for the presidency. (Read) But inside the Clinton operation, the groundwork is already quietly being laid for a candidacy.
On Sunday, Clinton will appear at the 37th annual Iowa steak fry hosted by Sen. Tom Harkin; it will be her most overtly political appearance since resigning as secretary of state in February of last year.
Meanwhile, the largest Democratic fundraising group, Priorities USA, which helped get President Barack Obama elected, recently rebranded itself as a vehicle to help Clinton. Publicly, the group says it is focused on raising money for Democrats for this fall's congressional elections, but privately, Priorities has already started reaching out to donors to secure 2016 commitments for Clinton.
"It's very obvious what's she going to do," said Sue Dvorsky, a former chairwoman to the Iowa Democratic Party. "Clearly she's going to run."
Of course, the former first lady can always decide to take a pass on a campaign. Before the 2004 presidential election, former Vice President Al Gore crisscrossed the country to promote his books, deliver speeches and even poked fun at himself on "Saturday Night Live," sparking assumptions that he would seek to unseat President George W. Bush. But in December 2002, Gore declared that he would not run.
But Gore did not have a groundswell of support within the Democratic Party and had run into potential problems raising money. (There was no "Ready for Al" group signing up supporters.) And, back then, the Democratic Party had a larger field of other viable candidates including Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, and John Edwards of North Carolina.
The signs pointing to Clinton running are big and small.
Lately, when supporters wish her good luck in the 2016 presidential campaign, she responds with a simple "Thank you," rather than explain that there is no campaign and that she has not yet decided whether she will run, as she did previously.
Priorities has held informational meetings with donors like Bernard L. Schwartz, a New York investor, and J.B. Pritzker, a Chicago-based philanthropist, to discuss a 2016 strategy and how much money will be needed to take on Republican super PACs.
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Hillary Clinton's New Workouts Speak Volumes