Hillary Clinton Considers Run For President

(Dec 3, 2006) Senator Clinton Said To Be Reaching Out To Top Democrats For Backing On Presidential Run.
(CBS) NEW YORK A statement released by a top adviser Sunday morning confirmed that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun active consideration of a 2008 run for president."As Senator Clinton said, she was going to begin actively considering a presidential run after the election. That process has begun," said Howard Wolfson.Senator Clinton has personally asked some of the top New York Democrats for their support in the event that she goes ahead with such a campaign. "She is reaching out to her colleagues in the New York delegation and asking for their advice and counsel, and their support if she decides to make a run," the Clinton adviser told The Associated Press. Wolfson said he did not know when she might make a decision. The former first lady is coming off an easy re-election victory to the New York Senate seat. A position she has held since her historic election in 2000. National polls show her as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination. Wolfson's comment mark a public acknowledgment of what had been widely expected, once her re-election campaign was out of the way, Clinton would turn her attention to a possible White House bid that, if successful, would make her the first woman to hold the office. Also eyeing the presidential race on the Democratic side, among others, are Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack began his campaign for the nomination last week.Senator Clinton had been coy throughout the campaign but Wolfson made it clear Sunday that the planning is moving ahead. He said that, among other things, top Clinton aides have begun interviewing possible presidential campaign staffers in recent weeks. Clinton already has a core of presidential campaign veterans on her staff and about $10 million left in the bank from her Senate campaign that can be converted to a presidential campaign. She also has her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as her main political adviser. Wolfson said no decision had yet been made on when Clinton might formally create a presidential exploratory committee, a move that would allow her to begin legally raising money for a presidential campaign. While Wolfson declined to say exactly which New York Democrats Clinton had been speaking to about her possible candidacy, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions that she had already talked to Rep. Charles Rangel and state Democratic Chairman Herman Farrell about it. While Rangel, who was instrumental in getting Clinton to run for Senate in 2000, told the Times the two had breakfast in New York City on Wednesday and discussed her plans, he would not provide details of their talk. Farrell, a state assemblyman from Manhattan, told the Times he received a telephone call directly from her. "I had a discussion with her about her decision to run for president. I'm not telling you what the decision was, only that we had the discussion," Farrell said. "And I'm positive that if she runs, the people of the United States will elect her as our next president," Farrell added. Pressure has been mounting on Clinton to send some sort of signal about her intentions since Obama let it be known that he might run. Wolfson said Sunday that was not a factor in Clinton's deliberations.
.............................................
Posted by Randy...Rcalypso