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Its a near certainty that a few weeks from now Hillary Clinton will be a full-fledged presidential candidate, campaigning through New Hampshire and Iowa with a vast press corps in tow.

Some politicians relish the campaign trail: the rope lines, rallies and photo ops. For Mrs. Clinton, its more of an ordeal to be borne. One veteran of her past races said that if Mrs. Clinton had her druthers shewould delay entering the race as long as possible, perhaps waiting until deep into the summer.

Yet if the fallout fromstoriesabout her email practices as secretary of state and foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation have made anything clear, its that Mrs. Clinton cant afford to wait.If shes going to run, she needs to start the race. Now.

Mrs. Clinton had a rough winter and theabsence of a campaign operation made matters worse. She had a bare-bones press operation to deal with an avalanche of media inquiries. Other than through paid speeches, she had scant opportunity to change the subject and focus attention on the issues that shed prefer to be front and center: jobs, wages, the middle class and equal pay for women.Republicans, meantime, are casting her absence from the campaign as a sign shes ducking tough questions.

While Mrs. Clinton dealt with questions about computer servers and the finer points of public record retention law, one potential rival for the party nomination, former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley, drew a standing ovation during a recent Iowa speech warning about Wall Street excesses.

Mr. OMalley seems ready for a fight. Speaking to ABC on Sunday he took a genuine swipe at Mrs. Clinton (and Republican Jeb Bush, too), saying the presidency isnt a crown to be passed between two families.

Maybe this isnt a test run for 2020 or 2024. Maybe Mr. OMalley wants to run and win.

Polls show he has a long way to go to catch Mrs. Clinton, but hes on the trail and shes not a reality that could make an impression on Iowa Democrats eager to see and hear from the candidates.

I think our country always benefits from new leadership and new perspectives, Mr. OMalley toldABCs George Stephanopoulos.

Absent a campaign team, Mrs. Clinton has relied on a few surrogates from the 1990s to defend her amid the email and foundation revelations.This hasnt gone so well.

Read more here:
Why Hillary Clinton Will Launch 2016 Campaign Soon