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Washington Stop the servers! Hillary Clinton is going to announce whether she is going to run for president on Jan. 1, or shortly thereafter.

Or maybe later than shortly thereafter. This bears watching, as time will tell.

OK, were being a bit snarky there, but when it comes to the former Secretary of State and a possible try for the White House even a vague bit of new semi-specificity can make news. And the US political world is chattering today about the hint Hillary dropped in Mexico during an appearance at a charity event.

Asked several times if she planned to run, Clinton said, I am going to be making a decision around probably after the first of the year.

Immediately the mediasphere was full of posts with heads like Hillary says will announce around January 1. Which is a true statement, given her words.

But . . . is this new? Shes said in the past she wouldnt announce until next year. Now shes saying that she wont announce until at least the day after the next year begins. Or around after then, which could be November, depending on your definition of around.

We agree completely with political scientist Jonathan Bernstein, who thinks all this coyness on the part of candidates is a mask over their true attitudes.

Clinton is running for 2016 already, and has been since she quite the State Department, Bernstein writes today. Whats she really saying with todays announcement is that sometime next year she might surprise everyone and say shes dropping out of a pre-presidential contest shes already engaged in.

There are good legal and strategic reasons for this. Campaign-finance laws discourage an early start, for one. Coyness freezes intra-party competition, as possible rivals such as Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley cant poach donors or activists whose first choice is Clinton. It shortens the glad-handing campaign grind.

Nor is she the only one doing this. On the GOP side, everyone from Rand Paul to Rick Perry is popping up to New Hampshire just to pick up some maple syrup and maybe meet a few voters. As Bernstein says, what everybodys running for is to remain viable into 2016, when primary voting starts.

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Hillary Clinton says she'll decide on 2016 around January 1. Maybe.