Former President Bill Clinton said on Monday he’d “be happy” if Hillary Rodham Clinton decided to run for president in 2016.
“I believe when she says she doesn’t think she’ll run, she’s being completely honest,” he told ABC News. “I want her to do what she wants to do. I’m glad she’s coming home, I miss her. We have fun together.”
The secretary of State has said she’s retiring from public life after the election. That said, the former president seemed to leave the door open just a crack for a possible Hillary 2016 run: “If she changes her mind and decides to run, I’ll be happy.”
As for President Obama’s chances, Clinton said: “I think he’s going to win handily.”
Clinton took a swipe at GOP front-runner Mitt Romney, saying it will be difficult for Romney to tack back to the center and that the ‘Etch a Sketch’ comment from a senior aide was probably true. “There is nothing more damaging in politics than telling the truth,” Clinton said, and referring to the ‘reset button’ comment of a Romney senior aide, added: “The truth is, that’s what he’s got to do.”
Romney, he said, needs to “convince the swing voters that he’ll be moderate enough and open enough and inclusive enough to be an effective president, and effective on the economy. And hope that the Republican base voters say, ‘Well, OK, so he maybe wasn’t as right-wing as he claimed to be in the primary. Still more conservative than President Obama. I guess I’ll vote for him anyway and I won’t stay home.'”
“That’s a much harder job,” Clinton said. “So I doubt if he can do it. But it’s going to be interesting to watch.”
{National Journal/Matzav.com Newscenter}
