Hillary's Inner Circle Urging Her to Run

Members of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's inner circle are urging her to jump into next year's presidential race.

And while the top Democrat has publicly denied she ready to make the move, privately she's told friends that her party is heading for disaster - comments that contradict her public boasts that Democrats stand an excellent chance of defeating President Bush with the current crop of presidential candidates.

"She has complained to intimates," reports Tuesday's New York Times, "she believes the Democratic Party is in trouble."

Mrs. Clinton's concern over her party's dismal political prospects has driven her to become more vocal, taking the lead in criticizing President Bush and, perhaps not inadvertently, stealing the spotlight from the nine announced presidential candidates.

"Within Mrs. Clinton's tight inner circle of friends and advisors, there is a difference of opinion" about whether she should run in 2004, the Times reports.

"One camp is arguing that President Bush is a much more vulnerable figure than some polls suggest, and that 2004 provides an opportunity for her to make a triumphant return to the White House, this time in the Oval Office."

Bill Clinton has said publicly that he's urged his wife to get into the race this time around, explaining to a California audience in September that New Yorkers have told him they don't care if she breaks her promise to serve out her Senate term.

Another camp in Hillary's inner circle, however, is concerned that if she jumps into the race now, her critics will charge that she only wanted to became a senator as a steppingstone to the White House.

People "close to Mr. and Mrs. Clinton" surmise that the former first couple are "enjoying - and deliberately inviting - speculation about her prospects as a presidential candidate," the Times said.

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2004 Elections
Sen. Hillary Clinton