Bill Clinton Fuels Speculation About Hillary Clinton's 2016 Run
Former President Bill Clinton said Sunday that America will have "some very good choices" for president, further fueling speculation about his wife, Hillary Clinton's, potential presidential run in 2016.
During a question and answer session at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in St. Louis, Mo., reporters asked Clinton if he would rather be able to complete 16 projects for his nonprofit group or have another eight years as president. "I would rather keep doing what I'm doing," Clinton replied after a pause, according to CNN.
The audience applauded when the former president added, "Because I think America will have some very good choices for president."
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Clinton said he supports the two-term limit "except in unusual circumstances," but added he wouldn't oppose allowing future presidents to run for a third term not immediately after their second.
"But I would personally rather keep on doing what I'm doing for as long as I can possibly do it, because I think I have learned how to do it, and I'm not sure anybody else would be doing this – whereas I'm quite sure there are going to be lots of talented people who are dying to become president of the United States," Clinton said.
The former secretary of state sparked speculation over her possible presidential run in 2016 after she came back on the public stage last week to deliver speeches on women's rights.
On "Meet the Press," NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Andrea Mitchell mentioned Hillary Clinton's speech at the Women in the World summit. "Boy, she let it rip on Friday," she said. "There was no misunderstanding. If she decides she's running, she's got everyone around her. James Carville [Democratic strategist] joining her SuperPAC this week – it's the strongest signal yet."
Mitchell added, "I will say there are generations of women – I speak to the young women at the conference... and my 95-year old mother – they want to see a woman in their lifetime. This is a real aspiration."
"I think the odds of her running are about 100 percent to zero," said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on the show. "I've talked to a lot of Republicans, and they like her, too."
"I think she's going to run," Republican political consultant Mike Murphy seconded. "She is clearly the frontrunner."
On ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Arianna Huffington also said Clinton is "obviously running."
A Washington Post/ABC NEWS poll from late January showed that over 67 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of Clinton.
However, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina disagrees. "I think after eight years of Barack Obama, if things don't change, the next Democrat running for president will be in trouble," he said on "Meet the Press." "She will be a formidable candidate. I think her time as secretary of state is mixed. Benghazi is yet to be told completely. Anybody underestimates her on the Republican side would do so at a peril. But yes, she can be beat; anybody can be beat in this country."
