Politics

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.?

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 16, 1999 / 7:20 PM EST / CBS

The first lady isn't talking. And it's what she isn't saying that is continuing to fan the flames, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Bill Plante.

Will she or won't she run for the Senate race?

On Tuesday, Plante asked Mrs. Clinton if she was any closer to a decision. She smiled, she waved, and she walked away, clearly not discouraging the speculation at all.

Later in the day, her office issued a statement: "I will give careful thought to a potential candidacy in order to reach a decision later this year."

Again, no denial.

Mrs. Clinton is getting some advice from fellow Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warning her that if she does decide to run, not only will she have to deal with the difficult, rude New York press corps, but her opponent will be New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who never has been known to shrink from a fight.

Fellow Democrats in New York want her to decide sooner rather than later. As long as she is considering it, the whole process is frozen.

One of her senior aides told CBS News that Mrs. Clinton is a very deliberate person. She wants to look at all sides of this, and that takes time.

Mrs. Clinton looked a whole lot like a candidate Tuesday at an appearance proposing new aid for Central American hurricane victims, reports Plante.

A reporter shouted to Mrs. Clinton, "Everybody wants to know if you're going to run for the Senate." The first lady smiled, but didn't reply.

She said she's "deeply gratified" by the large number of people who've suggested she run for the seat of the retiring Daniel Patrick Moynihan. And she hopes to reach a decision "later this year."

Just four days after the end of her husband's impeachment ordeal, she said she had not been able to give much thought to a potential candidacy, but would be able to focus on it now.

One of the arguments reportedly being made to Mrs. Clinton is that a Senate victory in New York might put her in a position to make a run for president or vice president in the future.

But in the meantime, she says she plans to concentrate on her husband's agenda.

Her statement comes a day after the president said he thinks his wife would make a great senator.

Moynihan has predicted that if Mrs. Clinton runs, she'll win.

The president's wife wouldn't be the first to declare herself a New Yorker in order to get on the senatorial ballot. Shortly after President Kennedy's death, his brother Robert did the same thing and won election, despite charges that he was a carpetbagging outsider.

In the first week of March, Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to be the star attraction at a New York fund-raiser for the Democratic Party's Women's Leadership Forum, providing one opportunity to announce her decision.