On Monday, Hillary Clinton said she has been “deluged” with requests that she consider running for president a third time, entering the 2020 Democratic presidential race two months before the Iowa caucuses. As establishment Democrats have started to worry about frontrunner Joe Biden, candidates like Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick have jumped in the race. Clinton did not rule out another run, but she did suggest it was rather unlikely.
She explained the “forget me” mantra of retired soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach. “I’m going to get off the stage because I want another great footballer up here. I want somebody else who is going to beat my record,” she told the BBC’s Graham Norton.
“Are you saying forget me? Is that your mantra now?” Norton asked.
“Not yet,” she responded.
“Because the rumor mill is flying that you could step back into the ring,” he pressed.
“I hear that. I especially have been deluged in the last few weeks with thinking about doing that,” Clinton said. “But right now, I’m not at all planning that. I’d have to make up my mind very quickly because it’s moving very fast. But I do want to continue to influence the debate.”
“I’m not leaving the political arena completely,” she added.
Clinton has discussed a potential 2020 run in multiple interviews. In October, she told PBS’s Judy Woodruff, “Obviously, I can beat [Trump] again.” Last month, she said she was “under enormous pressure” to run again.
In the 2016 election, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were rather unpopular with voters. Trump arguably won because Hillary became more unpopular than him in the final week of the race. If she were to run again, Trump would likely beat her again — and win the popular vote as well.
Ultimately, however, it is virtually certain that Hillary will not throw her hat in the ring for a third failed campaign. As she said, she would have to make up her mind very quickly “because it’s moving very fast.”
That’s still not a hard no…
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