Hillary Clinton is shoring up support among liberals within the Democratic Party in hopes of beating back a challenge from the more activist factions for the 2016 presidential nomination.
She has aligned herself more with President Barack Obama in recent weeks — a risk that could be used against her by potential contenders,
The Washington Post reports.
"She’s a public figure, a former secretary of state, during which time I’m sure that she had a number of conversations with the president about the various issues" she is commenting on, Nancy Hirschmann, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Post.
"She has a clear vision of who she is, so it’s perfectly reasonable for her to express truthfully what her own views are," she said.
Hirschmann directs the university's program in gender, sexuality and women’s studies.
Clinton, 67, has said that she will decide early next year whether to seek the nomination.
Her likely challengers include Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is being heavily courted by progressives; as well as Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley; and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.
Clinton has been meeting privately with potential campaign advisers and consulting business leaders, current Democrats in office and others on issues she could be expected to speak on in a campaign, the Post reports.
Her recent public comments have supported Obama's move to resume relations with Cuba after more than a half-century and have slammed the CIA for its interrogation tactics, according to the Post.
"Despite good intentions, our decades-long policy of isolation has only strengthened the Castro regime’s grip on power," Clinton said in a statement issued when American contractor Alan Gross was released earlier this month from a Havana prison after five years. "As I have said, the best way to bring change to Cuba is to expose its people to the values, information and material comforts of the outside world."
Gross, 65, was convicted in 2011 of crimes against the Cuban state and sentenced to 15 years.
Clinton, who was secretary of state when Gross was detained in 2009, said in this year's memoir "Hard Choices" that not securing his freedom was one of the regrets of her tenure, according to the Post.
She also wrote that she had suggested a foray to Cuba to Obama as she left office last year.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.