week out of the spotlight she did not answer questions on whether she
would run for president after she steps down following Obama's
inauguration in January.
She's back: Hillary Clinton was pictured in Washington DC on Thursday
after a week out of the spotlight Last week, she embarked on a tour of
the Balkans, meeting officials in Serbia, Albania, Croatia and Kosovo
- far away from the electoral fray as Barack Obama faced off with Mitt
Romney in a successful attempt to win four more years as President.
Rivals? Clinton could have been distancing herself from Obama to
prepare the ground for a 2016 run
The couple apparently voted together near their home in Chappaqua, New
York on Tuesday evening, but their trip to the polls was not
publicised or photographed.
Hillary finally resurfaced on Thursday, when she presided over a
ceremony to grant U.S, citizenship to children born abroad and adopted
by American parents.
She has repeatedly claimed that she will not run for President again
after her failed bid in 2008, and has added that she will not seek any
public office after leaving State.
However, many pundits are sceptical of her protestations, and the main
article this morning on Politico, a news website popular with
insiders, anointed her the frontrunner for the
Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
Clinton's decision to stay out of the limelight could, therefore, have
been a hedging strategy designed to distance her from Obama in the
event that he lost.
Strangely, given her pivotal role in the Obama administration, Hillary
seems to have ended up being less important to the President than Bill
is.
The 42nd President, rather than his wife, was the first person Obama
phoned after Romney conceded defeat.
Now that Obama has been re-elected, some expect Mrs Clinton to grow
closer to him in an attempt to portray herself as part of a winning
team - although she may calculate that by 2016, Americans will be so
tired of him that she will have to present herself as the face of
change if she is to make it to the White House.
Her movements over the next weeks, months and years will doubtless be
carefully monitored to work out whether or not she is indeed
manoeuvring for a 2016 power grab.
Clinton to Step Down Probably 'Days' After Inauguration