Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

 
Politics, unlocked and explained
 
 
Advertisements
 

Decoder Wire

Is Hillary Clinton's new hairstyle a 2016 makeover? Or do we need to chill?

Hillary Clinton has a new hairstyle, which can only mean she is absolutely, definitely, positively running for president. Or maybe not. But the move to push her into the White House is gaining steam.

By Jennifer Skalka TulumelloCorrespondent / July 11, 2013

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton applauds international delegates during the Women in Public Service Project leadership symposium Tuesday at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Matt Rourke/AP

Enlarge

Washington

It’s apparent that the Hillary Rodham Clinton White House watchers are getting truly dog-days-of-summer desperate when they start writing about – what else? – her much-discussed hair.

Skip to next paragraph

Recent posts

“It might just be the first step in a makeover of presidential proportions,” crowed the New York Daily News earlier this week. “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared Monday at [an] Arkansas library dedication, sporting a new refined hairdo that could be a sign of her further polishing her image ahead of a 2016 White House bid.”

Oh, for goodness sake, has she – and have we – not yet graduated from all that talk of the former secretary of State’s up-dos and -don’ts? Yes, as the Daily News reminds us in a slide show accompanying this vital story, Ms. Clinton has, over 30 years in public life, sported a bob, a classic Washington helmet head, a ponytail, and long and loose straightened locks, among many, many other looks. And oh, those 1990s headbands!

But, really. Hardly a week can go by without a new critical (or in this case limp) indicator that she might be, should be, is perhaps running for president.

Hair speculation aside, let’s note somewhat more importantly that ABC News Wednesday reported two new hires at Ready for Hillary, the "super political-action committee" encouraging the former first lady to run for president in 2016. And those staffers are veterans of President Obama’s campaigns: Jeremy Bird was the national field director for Mr. Obama, and Mitch Stewart led the organization’s efforts in critical battleground states.

The pickups, more than just sparking speculation, could indicate a hoped-for (at least among Democrats) seamless transition between the well-oiled and famously expansive Obama ground-game operation and a 2016 Clinton enterprise.

“It’s her decision to make,” Mr. Bird told ABC News. “This is about putting the infrastructure in place on the grass-roots side, should she decide to run.”

The Ready for Hillary group is not officially backed – nor is it permitted to be, per election laws – by Clinton, her husband, or daughter Chelsea. The Washington Post reported, though, that it “is fast emerging as the quasi-official stand-in for potential 2016 presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton, scooping up advisers and gathering big donations more than three years ahead of election time.”

Permissions

  • Weekly review of global news and ideas
  • Balanced, insightful and trustworthy
  • Subscribe in print or digital

Special Offer

 

Doing Good

 

What happens when ordinary people decide to pay it forward? Extraordinary change...

Colorado native Colin Flahive sits at the bar of Salvador’s Coffee House in Kunming, the capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan Province.

Jean Paul Samputu practices forgiveness – even for his father's killer

Award-winning musician Jean Paul Samputu lost his family during the genocide in Rwanda. But he overcame rage and resentment by learning to forgive.

 
 
Become a fan! Follow us! Google+ YouTube See our feeds!