I just want my mother to rest': Chelsea Clinton opens up about her hopes for Hillary and the White House
As speculation swirls over whether
Hillary Clinton will run for the White House in 2016, her daughter has
waded in on the debate, saying that she simply wants her mother to take
it easy.
'Right now, I want her to rest,' Chelsea Clinton, 33, said in an interview with Parade magazine.
'Ultimately I want her to make whatever she thinks is the right decision. I always want to help her in any way I can, because I unapologetically and unabashedly am deeply biased toward my mother.'
Clinton, 65, has said she has no plans for a second presidential bid, but she hasn't ruled it out. She stepped down as Secretary of State in February.
Chelsea Clinton has been a
loyal supporter and advocate for her mother, appearing at her side
throughout her ultimately failed bid for the Democratic nomination in
2008.
Democrats argue among themselves whether Hillary has the desire and energy to go through the grueling campaign process she knows so well.
But many see her as a prohibitive favorite whose head start would be so big that other potential candidates might starve for funds and attention.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in January found that 67 per cent of Americans held a favorable view of her, which is her highest rating since the poll began measuring her popularity in the 1990s.
The
poll has been held through her time as First Lady, her eight years in
the Senate representing New York and her time as Secretary of State.
'It's hard to overstate the breadth and depth of enthusiasm for a Hillary run,' said Doug Hattaway, a former Clinton campaign aide and now a Washington-based consultant.
She built a national base of supporters in 2008, when she lost a hard-fought nomination fight to Obama, and she's widely respected after her turn heading the State Department, Hattaway said.
'A lot of donors, volunteers and potential campaign workers will wait to hear what she decides before committing to other candidates,' he said, although 'anyone with their eye on 2016 is already working on it.'
Mo Elleithee, a top spokesman for Clinton's 2008 campaign, said it's much too early to know.
'My advice to everyone is to chill out,' Elleithee said. 'There's no need for all this breathless anticipation at this point.'
In the Parade interview, Chelsea Clinton also spoke out about how her grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, encouraged her to get involved with her family's work.
'She thought I wasn't doing enough with the opportunity I’d been given to be Chelsea Clinton,' she said. 'I'd chosen to kind of live in the recesses, to work very hard and try to be a good person.
'I hadn't planned on or expected to have a public dimension in my life. But I was starting to feel like I had a responsibility to at least try to make more of a difference.'
Now Chelsea is frequently seen at
events encouraging young people to immerse themselves in politics and
projects that can bring about global change.
This weekend she will be in St. Louis, Missouri to help with CGI U, an annual meeting for college students to discuss how to tackle local or global issues.
It is organized through the Clinton Global Initiative, which her father, former president Bill Clinton, launched in 2005 to develop answers to challenges around the world.
'Right now, I want her to rest,' Chelsea Clinton, 33, said in an interview with Parade magazine.
'Ultimately I want her to make whatever she thinks is the right decision. I always want to help her in any way I can, because I unapologetically and unabashedly am deeply biased toward my mother.'
Clinton, 65, has said she has no plans for a second presidential bid, but she hasn't ruled it out. She stepped down as Secretary of State in February.
Support: Chelsea Clinton, pictured with Hillary
Clinton in 2011, has said that she simply wants her mother to rest but
will support whatever decision she makes about running for the White
House in 2016
Democrats argue among themselves whether Hillary has the desire and energy to go through the grueling campaign process she knows so well.
But many see her as a prohibitive favorite whose head start would be so big that other potential candidates might starve for funds and attention.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in January found that 67 per cent of Americans held a favorable view of her, which is her highest rating since the poll began measuring her popularity in the 1990s.
Will she? Hillary Clinton speaks at the Vital
Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala in
Washington last week amid speculation that she will run for the White
House in 2016
'It's hard to overstate the breadth and depth of enthusiasm for a Hillary run,' said Doug Hattaway, a former Clinton campaign aide and now a Washington-based consultant.
She built a national base of supporters in 2008, when she lost a hard-fought nomination fight to Obama, and she's widely respected after her turn heading the State Department, Hattaway said.
'A lot of donors, volunteers and potential campaign workers will wait to hear what she decides before committing to other candidates,' he said, although 'anyone with their eye on 2016 is already working on it.'
Well-liked: Clinton, with Michelle Obama, is at her most popular since the 1990s, according to a recent poll
Serious: Clinton, pictured with Obama in September, stepped down as Secretary of State in February
'My advice to everyone is to chill out,' Elleithee said. 'There's no need for all this breathless anticipation at this point.'
In the Parade interview, Chelsea Clinton also spoke out about how her grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, encouraged her to get involved with her family's work.
'She thought I wasn't doing enough with the opportunity I’d been given to be Chelsea Clinton,' she said. 'I'd chosen to kind of live in the recesses, to work very hard and try to be a good person.
'I hadn't planned on or expected to have a public dimension in my life. But I was starting to feel like I had a responsibility to at least try to make more of a difference.'
Continuing the family work: Chelsea, pictured
with her husband Marc Mezvinsky in February, left, and hosting an event
in New York last night, right, is immersed in community and global
projects her father set up
Family: Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton appear at the SeriousFun Children's Network event on Thursday
This weekend she will be in St. Louis, Missouri to help with CGI U, an annual meeting for college students to discuss how to tackle local or global issues.
It is organized through the Clinton Global Initiative, which her father, former president Bill Clinton, launched in 2005 to develop answers to challenges around the world.
