Hillary Clinton in Iowa stirs 2016 speculation

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By KEN THOMAS

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — With speculation on a White House run in overdrive, Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to Iowa Sunday to pay tribute to the state's retiring Democratic senator as anticipation builds over the possibility of another presidential campaign.

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, were to headline Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry fundraiser in rural Indianola. Sunday's event was expected to draw more than 5,000 party activists who form the backbone of Iowa's presidential campaigns every four years.

Following a summertime book tour, Clinton was making her biggest campaign splash in 2014 so far, opening a fall of fundraising and campaigning for Democrats who are trying to maintain a Senate majority during President Barack Obama's final two years. The event was serving as a farewell for Harkin, a liberal stalwart and former presidential candidate who is retiring after four decades in Congress.

Obama defeated Clinton in the state's leadoff presidential caucuses in January 2008, and the former secretary of state has not returned since. Iowa Democrats said Clinton remained widely popular and predicted she would receive broad support if she chooses to run again.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2010, file photo, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, speaks to reporters during his annual fundraising steak fry dinner in Indianola, Iowa. Looking on are President Obama's 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe, left, White House adviser David Axelrod and former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, right. For generations of Democrats, Harkin{2019}s campaigns have served as a kind of training school for political up-and-comers, a place where you got lessons on how to charm a voter, where to place a bumper sticker or on standing up for issues you believe in. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140914/us--hillary_clinton-iowa-8b64461007.html

[RufusTFirefly]

1. Strange! She's looking a lot like Tom Harkin in this photo.

Perhaps it's the pantsuit.

[antigop]

2. was her buddy Kissinger there? nt

[TwilightGardener]

3. Will she? Won't she? Who can bear the suspense??

[Liberal Veteran]

5. She's just a big fan of steak fries.

That's all.

[Thespian2]

4. Note to Democrats

Nominate HRC...Lose the presidential election. Time to be looking for someone who will win...Bernie Sanders is your best bet...if you could get him to run as a Dem.

[area51]

14. +1 n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

18. Who told you the DEMS care about "winning"...the 1%'s checks cash just the same!

[Hoppy]

6. Why doesn't she stay home and start a foundation or somethin'?

[Skidmore]

7. I could care less about Hillary or her aspirations and political games right now.

This Iowan is going to miss our Senator Harkin. He's always been rock solid and is a decent man. So sorry to see him go but I understand that he wants to retire. Be well and enjoy your retirement, Senator Tom.

[JDPriestly]

15. Thank you, Iowa, for sending him to the Senate. The whole nation will miss him.

[candelista]

19. No, you couldn't care less.

If you could care less, then you must care, at least a little.

[Skidmore]

20. I don't care at the moment about 2016 aspirations of anyone.

We have to get through this election. I do care about getting Braley elected to take Harkin's place and I am sorry to lose Senator Harkin. We need a working Congress, and that is light years more important at the moment.

[candelista]

21. :)

[AngryAmish]

8. not again...jeez, what the fuck is wrong with us?

[INdemo]

9. If Hillary wants the next occupant in the White House

to be a Republican then she should run.

[modeforjoe]

10. Hillary Will Miss Her Appointment with Destiny

OK. We've already watched Obama squander his mandate--not a mandate to win every single legislative battle, but rather a mandate to take the hard and correct position, go down fighting, and in the process re-educate the American people along the way. The important thing in the long run is to turn America around. As to Hillary, she is rich, famous and all the rest. Why not now, now of all times, come out like a Bernie Sanders type and tell the starkest truths about our addiction to perpetual war, about the destruction of our democracy (Citizens United), about the 1%, about off-shoring jobs, about the need to prosecute former officials who led us all down this path?

Really. Why not? She has the clout; and at the same time she could create a legacy that would be huge, incredible almost. A female Cincinnatus who saved the Republic. She doesn't need the money; doesn't need short-term fame. She could become immortal if she used her position and high profile to advocate for deep structural changes.

Instead, I fear, she will opt for business as usual, with all the old faces, all the self-destructive foreign and domestic policies in place. She will not care a fig for the nation destroying MIC or the Palestinians either, thanks to AIPAC.

So what is this about her being anointed? Seems to me that the American people are not qualified to participate in a democracy if they go for Hillary, or any candidate from ANY major party.

[George II]

11. WTF. Has it been a secret that needs "speculation" that she's running in 2016?????

Wonder why a four year old photograph is accompanying the "article".

[silvershadow]

12. We have a lot in common. I stirred my bowl of soup. nt

[MoonchildCA]

13. Speculation about Hillary running for president?

Well, who woulda thunk it?

[JDPriestly]

16. Hillary -- in addition to her warmongering and the bills that Bill signed that would come back

to haunt her should she run, she is utterly boring. I hope she does not run. She will have a lot of support among the money-hungry party activists, but not among the voters. That is my prediction. She still could win the nomination in which case her ability to win will depend on how impossible her Republican opponent is. Would have to be pretty impossible to lose to Hillary in my opinion.

[1dogleft]

17. speculation?

yes this is a real nail bitter. Maybe Bill knows something