2016 Campaign Checklist: Hillary Clinton

A look at Hillary Rodham Clinton's preparations for a potential 2016 presidential campaign:

Nondenial denial: "I haven't made up my mind. I really have not. I will look carefully at what I think I can do and make that decision sometime next year." ABC, December 2013. "Give me your name and number.... Obviously, thinking about all kinds of decisions." Coyly deflecting questions from a college student who asked her about running, March 22, Tempe, Ariz.

Book: Yes, again. Previously published author has "Hard Choices" scheduled for release June 10, about her years as secretary of state, with book tour likely to follow.

Visited Iowa: No. Steering clear of the early caucus/primary states. But Ready for Hillary, a super political action committee laying national groundwork for her potential candidacy, now is mobilizing for her in the state. The group dispatched 250 volunteers to Democratic county conventions to drum up support for her. (Third-place shocker in 2008 caucuses won by Obama portended scrappy nomination fight to come.)

Visited New Hampshire: No. But Ready for Hillary is already working for her there. The group courted New Hampshire local officials, union leaders and the state Democratic chairman in a January visit and returned in March for a series of meetings with state lawmakers and organizers. (She beat Obama in 2008 primary to regain traction in nomination contest.)

South Carolina: No. (Distant second to Obama in 2008 primary.)

Foreign travel: Do birds fly? Former secretary of state doesn't need to globe-trot any time soon. Spent 401 days overseas, flying nearly 1 million miles. Limited overseas travel in 2013: honorary degree at St. Andrews University in Scotland in September; trip to London in October for a diplomacy award and a fundraising concert for the family's foundation. Attended memorial services for Nelson Mandela in South Africa in December. Two recent speeches in Canada.

Meet the money: Can tap deep well of Democratic and activist money. She's been raising money for Clinton foundation. Supporters launched a super PAC, Ready for Hillary, to support another presidential run, raising more than $4 million in 2013 and $1.7 million in first three months of 2014. Priorities USA said in January 2014 it will back Clinton if she runs, a sign that senior members of President Barack Obama's campaign team are lining up behind her. Prominent bundlers such as Hollywood moguls Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban have signaled support. Clinton worked fundraising circuit to help Terry McAuliffe's campaign for governor in Virginia and Bill de Blasio's mayoral bid in New York City. Both won.

Networking: A steady presence now on the speaking circuit, delivering paid speeches to industry groups and conferences and appearing before a number of groups with ties to the Democratic coalition, including stops on college campuses in Miami, Los Angeles and Tempe. Accepted lifetime achievement award from American Jewish Congress in March. Crossed paths again with potential GOP rival Jeb Bush at education event in Texas in March, six months after he awarded her the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia in his capacity as chairman of the National Constitution Center.

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2016 Campaign Checklist: Hillary Clinton

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