Officially, Hillary Clinton has not decided whether she’s running for President. Unofficially, it certainly sounds like she is:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun a calculated series of meetings with top New York Democratic officials to signal that she is likely to run for the presidency in 2008 and to ask for their support if she does, according to one state Democratic official who spoke with her and two others who have been briefed on her plans.
Senator Clinton met last week with Charles B. Rangel, the dean of the New York Congressional delegation, in what her advisers said was an effort to meet with most New York Congressional Democrats by the end of this month to discuss her plans.
On Friday, she also spoke with Herman D. Farrell Jr., the chairman of the State Democratic Party, Mr. Farrell said, and she plans to meet with Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer as early as today. Mr. Farrell confirmed that Senator Clinton briefed him on her 2008 intentions; Mr. Rangel declined to describe their conversation.
Senator Clinton?s outreach was disclosed and confirmed yesterday by three New York Democratic officials, all on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by the Clinton camp to release the information. One of the officials said he was contacted by Senator Clinton directly about her plans. The two others said they were informed by senior Clinton advisers that she was entering a new phase of contacting officials to line up support for a possible presidential bid.
The rest of the article makes it clear that Clinton has all but decided that she will run in `08, but is keeping her options open. Clearly, though, the Clinton camp recognizes that this wouldn’t be the same type of cake-walk-to-victory that Bill Clinton had in 1992:
Allies of Senator Clinton say that she wants to run for the White House but is weighing whether she can in fact become the first woman to win the presidency. Her advisers appear confident that Senator Clinton could build the sort of broad support among Democrats, independents and women that she had this fall in her landslide re-election victory in New York.
Yet Senator Clinton remains a highly divisive figure for many Americans from her eight years as first lady, her leading role in the failed effort to overhaul the nation?s health care system, and the multiple investigations of her husband?s administration.
Public polls indicate that Senator Clinton would be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, were she to run, but they also suggest that a majority of Democrats would prefer to support other party figures ? Mr. Obama, former Vice President Al Gore or former United States Senator John Edwards.
Which is why, I think, many Democrats wish she wouldn’t run.
