Clinton hints of 2016 in return to key Iowa state

Hillary Rodham Clinton's third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses that kicked off the 2008 presidential primaries seemed but a fading memory when the former secretary of state took the stage in front of roughly 10,000 loyal Democrats at an annual fundraiser in the Midwestern state that is often critical to White House hopefuls.
Though Clinton is the favorite for the 2016 Democratic nomination should she run, she advised the audience and the media yesterday that her focus was on the November midterm elections. Still, she left just enough hints that a second bid for president could come, and that it might begin in Iowa. 1. Some voters are ready

Clinton insisted the point of speaking at Harkin's event was to boost 2014 candidates. But she dropped hints of a potential 2016 candidacy into her speech to an audience packed with people wearing "Ready" stickers, symbols of the Ready for Hillary political action committee that is laying the groundwork for a potential campaign.
Clinton described her personal concerns first as an expectant grandmother. "And then of course, there's that other thing," she said, fueling a slow but steady rise in cheers from the crowd. "Well, it is true, I am thinking about it, but for today that is not why I'm here." The caveat prompted a corresponding moan of disappointment.

"Too many people only get excited about presidential campaigns," she said later. "Look, I get excited about presidential campaigns too." she said. Again, cheers erupted. 2. It's great to be back in Iowa
After posing for photographs turning a grill full of red meat at outgoing Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's farewell "steak fry," Clinton stopped to say hello to the remaining reporters, after many had left.

Asked whether she was glad to be back in Iowa, where her 2008 campaign hit a costly bump, she said: "It's great, it's fabulous to be back. I love Iowa."
And then she launched into an anecdote she often told in Iowa at the outset of her 2008 campaign. "I first came to Iowa when I was about, I can't remember, I was either 9 or 10," she said. "And we were with my dad, and we went to Des Moines and we stayed at the Tall Corn Motel. I've had a great impression ever since."

3. Old adversaries, now friends
Clinton, who dueled Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, joked about wondering whatever happened to that "young senator from Illinois."
"It's been seven years and a lot has changed," she said. "We went from rivals to partners to friends, and sometimes we would even reminisce about old days."
She added, "Under President Obama's leadership, our country is on the road to recovery," before rattling off a list of improving economic indicators in Iowa, such as its unemployment rate of less than 5 per cent.