Clinton to decide on presidential run after Jan. 1
ROME, N.Y. --Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday she won't make a decision about running for president until after the first of the year.
During a visit to an aircraft maintenance facility at the former Griffiss Air Base, Clinton confirmed she is talking to people in New York and across the country about a possible run for president in 2008. It was the first time Clinton publicly confirmed what her aides and fellow Democrats have been saying about a possible presidential run.
"I'm talking to people who have opinions about what our country needs to do going forward and whether or not I make any decisions, I can't really confront until after the first of the year," Clinton said.
The former first lady said she had not yet decided whether to form a presidential exploratory committee, but that technical requirements of federal election law might require her to do so if she continues to consider a presidential run.
"I'm certainly interested in what happens to our country," she said when asked if she was interested in being president. "I'm looking at where our country is, where I would like to see it go, listening to people who think I might make a contribution to that."
Asked if would make a good president, Clinton said, "obviously if I make a decision to pursue it, that would be one of the conclusions I reach."
Of one possible rival for the Democratic nomination, Clinton said the warm reception Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was getting around the country, including a stop in New Hampshire on Sunday, was "terrific."
Clinton, however, wouldn't say whether she thought Obama should run for president.
"That's going to be up to everybody to make a decision," she said. Asked if Obama would make a good president, Clinton chuckled.
"We just have to take one day at a time right now," she said. "I'm just excited there's a lot of enthusiasm for Democrats around the country."
Clinton was in Rome for the announcement that the airline
Later, Clinton helped open a new wing of a military accounting office. The Defense Finance and Accounting Services office was spared during the 2005 round of federal base closings and Clinton touted the success story during her re-election campaign.
Among the almost 1,000 people on hand to hear Clinton speak was Donna McCaffrey, a new employee at the facility who said she hadn't voted for the former first lady in the 2000 or 2006 Senate races, but would support her if she ran for president.
"I think she would be awesome," said the Rome Republican.
