Bill Clinton: Hillary needs time to decide

Former President Bill Clinton said his wife, Hillary Clinton, needs time to think about what her message to voters would be if she runs for president in 2016.

She “really does need some time to think through this,” now that her memoir, Hard Choices, has been published, he said in an interview with CNN.

“We’ve reached a point in our life when we think you really shouldn’t run for office if you don’t have a clear idea of what you can do and a unique contribution you can make and you can outline that,” Clinton added. “Now that the book is done, she wants time to think about that and work through it. I think so much of politics is background noise, and we don’t need the background noise anymore.” 

{mosads}Bill Clinton, who claimed Hillary hasn’t asked him for advice on her 2016 decision, said he would be “fine” with whatever decision she makes after the sacrifices she has made for his career. 

The 42nd president highlighted his wife’s abilities to lead the country. 

“She is the ablest public servant I have ever worked with, even if she is my wife,” he said. “She’s smart, but she’s also uncannily able to move from A to B to C. She gets things done and she is strong. She’s just good. She is just really good. She would be really good. But it’s a decision that only she can make, and I’m not going to try to jump the gun, and if she decides not to do it, I’ll be happy too.” 

Clinton said recent criticism about his wife being out of touch was “fabricated” and “shows you how desperately, sadly we are dependent on a new level of political gossip every week.” She had said in June that the couple was “dead broke” after leaving the White House.

“Most people would think that being $16 million in debt would qualify as being dead broke,” Clinton said, referring to a number CNN said is higher than the $2.28 million to $10.6 million figure that was cited on their federal financial records. 

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to make money,” Clinton said. “I think it’s bad if you live in a system that’s rigged against the poor and the middle class. That’s a very different thing, and the purpose of politics is to create a system of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities.”