Hillary Clinton has not said whether or not she’ll be running for president again, but years out from the 2016 elections she’s already losing some ground as the frontrunner in the race.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday showed the former secretary of state’s favorability rating drop by nine points from February of this year. But overall, Clinton continues to dominate the 2016 field leading potential Republican opponents, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 48% to 40%, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul 49% to 41%.
The pro-Clinton super PAC “Ready for Hillary” launched its national finance council this week led by three Democratic mega-donors. Clinton also hired a former State Department aide to join her at what is now being called the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted a picture of himself with the former secretary of state as they marched together in a Memorial Day Parade in New Castle. Still, both have been reserved about speculation for a bid in 2016.
Other potential 2016 contenders were out and about this week, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who garnered the most news attention as the Republican toured the reopening of the Jersey Shore with President Obama on Tuesday. Christie is facing re-election this fall in Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where polls show him with a wide lead over his Democrat Barbara Buono. But many speculate he may also have his eyes on a bigger race in ’16. Christie recently sat down for an interview with People Magazine discussing his weight loss and his distaste for New Jersey reality shows.
Failed 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has remained fairly quiet since his loss last November. But he is now taking steps to re-enter the political scene by hosting a gathering of supporters and advisers which features several 2016 Republican contenders including Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Paul Ryan and Christie.
Meanwhile, Ann Romney offered her support to her husband’s former running mate in an interview with CBS’s This Morning on Thursday saying, “There are some great candidates out there and I think Mitt and I always are very partial to Paul Ryan – but we don’t even know if he’s going to run.”
Bush, another potential 2016 candidate, made light of comments his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, said last month on Today before the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, that “we’ve had enough Bushes” in the White House.
“What can I tell you? All I can say is we all have mothers, right?” he said in a keynote address at the Mackinac Policy Conference.
Diving into the foreign policy debate, Paul published this article writing, “It is very clear that any attempt to aid the Syrian rebels would be complicated and dangerous, precisely because we don’t know who these people are.”
Karly Schledwitz