Pelosi: Hillary Clinton "would win" the 2016 presidential race

"I don't know why she wouldn't run," said the House Minority Leader

Published June 28, 2013 3:45PM (EDT)

Though she's not yet making any official endorsements for the 2016 presidential race, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was extremely optimistic about a potential run by Hillary Clinton. "If Secretary Clinton were to run — and we think if she ran, she would win — I believe that she would be the best-prepared person to enter the White House in decades, in decades," Pelosi said, "with all due respect to her husband, present company and other presidents."

Pelosi was speaking on USA Today's "Capital Download," and said that though she's "not making endorsements right now, because I don't think that's appropriate," among Democrats "[t]here's a great deal of excitement about the prospect that she would run."

As USA Today points out, at the end of the 2008 primary campaign, Pelosi had a slightly different take:

In 2008, Pelosi was House speaker and stayed officially neutral in the primary battle between Clinton and Barack Obama. She drew ire from Clinton's campaign with a comment that it would be "harmful" for unelected "superdelegates" to determine the nomination. At that key moment, support from superdelegates was seen as the only way Clinton might prevail.


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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2016 Elections California Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton House Of Nancy Pelosi