Hillary, Life after Politics

Is this the end of Hillary Clinton’s political career? She remains enigmatic. For the moment, she is retracting her position. She just joined Bill Clinton’s foundation, causing its name to change. The William J. Clinton Foundation is now the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Is this a sign that the most popular female politician in the United States will not be a candidate in succession to the 44th president? It’s too early to tell.

Barack Obama’s former secretary of state has hired one of her colleagues at the Department of State to run her office. With the foundation, Hillary will work on all aspects of women’s rights in the world, one of her concerns while she was in government.

Those who speculate about Hillary’s candidacy in ‘16 would do well to study the recent opinion poll carried out by Quinnipiac University. Favorable opinions went from 61 percent in February, at the time of her departure from government, to 52 percent today. During her four years at the State Department, Hillary’s popularity hung around 60 to 65 percent. According to Nate Silver, star statistician and New York Times collaborator, the decline in popularity is explained by Hillary’s possible return to the political arena. For four years, Republicans have ignored her, but now that she is in store for the republic, they are beginning to attack her.

Hillary’s personality has often divided the Democratic electorate, but her candidacy in 2016 could produce the same effect as Barack Obama in 2008 and encourage female voters, even those who are not naturally in favor of her, to vote for the first female president of the United States. We do not see how Hillary could resist the opportunity to make history and give up embarking on the 2016 campaign. We will have to follow her in coming months. Even with her capacity to fundraise, Hillary will need to organize a team relatively early if she wants to put herself ahead not just in the polls, but also in the minds of the political commentators who make public opinion.