The tea-leaf reading for a prospective Hillary Clinton 2016 run got a little bit easier Tuesday when the former secretary of state said she was “thinking about” a presidential bid.
“I am obviously flattered and deeply honored to have people ask me and people encourage me,” Clinton said at a marketing conference in California, according to NBC News. “I am thinking about it.”
“But I’m going to continue to think about it for a while,” she added, squashing hopes of a formal announcement at that moment or anytime soon.
It was just a little bit further than Clinton is typically willing to go when she is inevitably asked about her White House ambitions at her many public events. The usual line offered by the Clinton camp, as spokesman Nick Merrill told the Wall Street Journal in a Sunday article, is a bit more evasive.
“She, as much as anyone, knows that running for president is a very personal and weighty decision that people need to make on their own timeline, based on whatever factors they want to take into account,” he said.
As has been thoroughly documented, the outside infrastructure for a Clinton campaign has been taking shape for more than a year now. The super PAC Ready for Hillary is organizing the grassroots volunteers that make a ground game click, Priorities USA is lending its considerable fundraising prowess and Correct The Record is the rapid response outfit organized by Media Matters founder David Brock.
A number of long-time Clinton allies have joined those various ventures, furthering the speculation that official Clintonworld is onboard with laying the foundation for an eventual run.
