daydreaming
Hillary Clinton has reportedly been saying she'd consider a 2020 run if she saw an opening
After shutting the door on a 2020 run again and again, might former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton still have it ever so slightly open?
A new report from The New York Times describing how some Democrats are "daydreaming" about another candidate making an unlikely late entrance into the race includes the detail that Clinton, in recent weeks, has been saying that if she "thought [she] could win," she "would consider entering the primary," although she's "skeptical there would be an opening."
Still, Clinton is reportedly being encouraged to enter the race. The report details how she has "concerns" about the Democrats' 2020 field, worried about the "durability" of former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign and the "liberal politics" of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and being "unsure of who else can emerge to take on" Trump.
The Times report comes days after the endless 2020 speculation surrounding Clinton ramped up when she took a shot at Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) on a podcast by suggesting Republicans are "grooming" her to run as a third party candidate. Gabbard hit back by challenging Clinton to "join the race directly." Clinton, who recently tweeted at President Trump that he shouldn't "tempt me" to get into the race, would consider a run if Biden "drops out or is badly weakened," the Times reports, citing Democrats close to her.
Clinton isn't the only name being floated to possibly make a late entrance, with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also reportedly telling allies he'd run if he saw an opening, and with former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also reportedly being urged to enter. Will any of them actually join the race with just months to go until the Iowa caucuses? Almost certainly not, but as Patrick told the Times, "it's nice to be rumored about."