Almost immediately after the 2012 presidential race was decided, political pundits and the news media began to speculate whether or not Hillary Rodham Clinton would seek the Democratic nomination in 2016.

That speculation over a potential 2016 run for Clinton—who has served as Secretary of State, a U.S. Senator and First Lady—gained more traction this past week as Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) officially endorsed her.

Schumer gave a speech to Iowa Democrats to make the endorsement. “Run, Hillary, run,” he said. “If you run, you’ll win and we’ll all win,” according to The New York Times.

Schumer’s predictions, while bold, are not unfounded. When Clinton left the U.S. Department of State this past January, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 67 percent of Americans viewed her favorably, with 91 percent of Democrats holding a favorable opinion of her.

But her poll numbers have seen a sharp decline in the past few months. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released last week showed that 46 percent of adults expressed a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 33 percent viewed her unfavorably.

Despite these weaker numbers, they’re still better than many prominent Republican politicians. The same poll found the favorable-unfavorable split for U.S. House Speaker John Boehner to be 17-43, respectively.

Another White House run by Clinton would be exactly what’s needed to re-energize the Democratic base, at least part of which has found itself disappointed at President Barack Obama’s sudden move to the center of the political spectrum.

At the very least, it would appear the Democratic nomination is all but a lock for Clinton.

She could have had a chance to clinch the nomination in the 2008 election. However, the “rising star” status of then-Sen. Obama, whose youth, charisma and call for change propelled him to the nomination instead of party establishments Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

The difference in 2016 is that — at least for now — the Democratic Party lacks a real Obama-like rising star to challenge old party stalwarts. The possible exception is Cory Booker, the former mayor of Newark, N.J., who was just sworn in as a U.S. senator for the state.

In terms of who’s best for the job, there’s no better candidate than Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Her time as a U.S. Senator for New York and Secretary of State has given her a wealth of public service experience — heading the Department of State has also granted her diplomatic know-how that often proves to be a useful tool for presidents.

Moreover, her policy ideas on the domestic front represent a more leftward lean than the current administration.

Even when she occupied the White House as First Lady, Clinton fought for truly universal health care. In the 1990s, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to be in charge of a special task force regarding health care reform.

A “Clinton-ized” version of health care reform would be a welcome next step after Obamacare.

A second Clinton presidency would be positive, not only for the Democratic Party, but would most importantly be beneficial for America. She’s got a no-nonsense attitude that has the potential to get a lot done and break up political gridlock.

It’s now or never for Clinton. To echo Schumer: Run, Hillary, run.

David Swenton is a senior political science and writing and rhetoric major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at daswento@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @DavidSwenton.

Published on November 6, 2013 at 1:29 am