Hillary Clinton discussing presidential bid
POSTED: 9:53 p.m. EST, December 3, 2006
Story Highlights
• It's "pretty clear" former first lady will seek nomination, source says
• Clinton interviewing candidates for campaign staff, source says
• Clinton holds talks with New York Gov.-elect Spitzer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding discussions about and interviewing potential campaign staff for a White House bid in 2008, sources say.

Clinton, a Democratic senator for New York and former first lady, was re-elected to a six-year term in the Senate in a landslide last month.

"She said before the election that after the election she would be considering a presidential run," said Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser. "Part of that process is seeking the advice and counsel of her colleagues in New York."

Wolfson said the senator has been holding private conversations with New York Democrats concerning a White House bid.

Another source close to Clinton told CNN she has begun interviewing potential campaign staff.

One New York Democrat, who asked to not be named, said he was recently called by a senior Clinton team member. While it was not flatly said that Clinton had decided to run for president, "it was pretty clear," the source said.

On Sunday, Clinton met New York's governor-elect, Eliot Spitzer, The Associated Press reported.

"We just had a great, wide-ranging meeting on so many issues that affect the city, the state and the country," AP quoted Clinton as saying as she left the meeting at Spitzer's home in Manhattan.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Clinton's Democratic colleague, told AP he would be meeting with Clinton in the next week.

"She wants to sit down and talk next week, which we're going to do. It could be about legislation. I have no idea what it's about, and until we sit down and talk that's all I'm going to say about it," AP quoted Schumer as saying. "I think she'd make a very good president but let's wait and see. Everyone's sort of jumping the gun."

A CNN poll taken two weeks ago showed the New York senator favored by 33 percent of people asked who they were "most likely to support for the Democratic nomination for president in the year 2008."

Clinton was ranked first among 10 potential Democratic candidates. Second place for "likely" support was a statistical tie among Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (15 percent); former Vice President Al Gore (14 percent), who ran for president in 2000; and John Edwards (14 percent), John Kerry's running mate in 2000.

Last week, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced he would seek the Democratic nomination. Indiana Democrat Sen. Evan Bayh announced Sunday he is considering running for the White House.

CNN's Mark Preston, Scott Spoerry and Candy Crowley contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/...ary/index.html