Forget VP: Clinton world eyes 2016
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The new round of speculation that Hillary Clinton could replace Joe Biden as President Barack Obama's running mate in 2012 misses the point.
Clinton doesn't want to be vice president. But, her old advisers say, she may still want to be president.
And all the denials of author Bob Woodward's hint at a Clinton-Obama ticket in 2012, the latest in a string of similar notions floated by pundits, miss another point: that speculation about Clinton's future is likely to be an on-going cross to bear for the Obama administration, fanned by a retinue of former Clinton aides and friends who may not be happy until another Clinton is in the White House. (See: Woodward: VP Hillary 'on the table')
Clinton's political team, many of them still in exile from the Obama White House, whether in the private sector or in other government posts, remains on standby. They are also the most invested in her prospects: Their relevance depends, to a degree, on hers. One, Ann Lewis, maintains an organization based on Clinton's massive email list. It's called NoLimits.org. Another, pollster Mark Penn, conducted a public survey for The Hill this week that included a pot-stirring match-up of Clinton and Obama in 2012.
These advisers and supporters remain, to varying degrees, on the outside, but many still talk to Clinton or to her husband. Clinton recently finished paying off the debts her 2008 campaign owed Penn -- a mark of their continued relationship.
And Penn, for one, Woodward reported in his latest book, sees the secretary of state job as a potential stepping stone, perhaps via the vice presidency, to the White House.
"Penn always had his eye on the prize -- the White House. If she did the job for four years, Obama might be in trouble and have to dump Biden and pick her to run with him as vice president," Woodward wrote. (Penn declined to comment to POLITICO on Clinton's prospects.)
First Published October 6, 2010 10:35 pm
