A year from today, who'll already have announced, one way or the other?

[eric82oslo]

I'm starting to feel that Hillary could announce as early as during the summer this year. Mostly in order to boost Democrats' chances in the 2014 elections, to be able to play a gamechanger role in many individual statewide (or countywide) races (much like her husband did in reelecting Obama), to bolster her 2016 warchest so much that even the savyest Republican candidate will find it hard to match up (or even come close) and finally in order to make sure that as few challengers as possible will join in the same primary ring, possibly - if she's ultra lucky - none at all. The Hillary 2016 campaign will be one like we've possibly never seen before. George W. Bush 2000 came close, but he wasn't nearly as universally popular as Hillary is today and he had a really formidable challenger in John McCain. Anyone who thinks Joe Biden could be an equally formidable challenger really doesn't know their politics well. The only Democrat who could reach McCain levels would be Elizabeth Warren, but she's already declared a million times that she's definitely not gonna run. Frankly, it looks like a walk-over already. And I think that walk-over includes an early announcement, for practical and political reasons. It could come during the quieter parts of summer or it could come during early fall. I think she would be wise to choose the quieter political season, to make sure she doesn't steal too much attention from other Democrats who'll be running campaigns in the fall.

She's already at a record high 68% support among likely Democratic primary voters. Everyone else has 12% or less. There's just no chance she's not gonna run. The only thing that could be stopping her at this point would be a fatal incidence like hospitalization or serious health problems.