Michael Rubenstein / for NBC News
Hillary Clinton Explains Why She Might Not Run
By Tracy Connor
Clinton says there are a few reasons she might not run for president — and one of them hasn't even been born yet.
"I am about to become a grandmother in the fall, which I know is gonna change my life," the former first lady, senator and secretary of state said in an interview with Cynthia McFadden that aired Tuesday on "NBC Nightly News."
"I don't know how I'm gonna feel about that. I wanna feel the feelings around becoming a grandmother. I don't wanna be focused on something two years away. I wanna be focused on this baby right in front of me."
When Chelsea Clinton announced in April that she and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are expecting their first child in the autumn, her mother was by her side.
While Hillary made it clear she's looking forward to filling a new role in her family, she said that's not the only argument against throwing her hat into the ring for 2016.
Although she is busy promoting her new memoir, "Hard Choices," she's also enjoying some downtime after walking "on this high wire of American politics and then American diplomacy for more than 20 years."
"I love my life right now. I love setting my own schedule, seeing my friends. I mean, there were so many friends I had to put on hold, and now I get to have dinner with them and go for walks with them," she said.
"I love hanging out — just, you know, doing fun stuff. I went to a play yesterday with my husband, my daughter, and my son-in-law.
"And it sounds very simplistic, but I want to feel that I'm making the best choice for me as well as the best choice for my country."
The ugly side of American politics is another deterrent, she said.
"It is a factor. I think anybody who says it isn't either has never done it, or may be trying to downplay it," she said.
"Our politics right now are very contentious, very dysfunctional, if you look at our country. I saw that from afar."
In the wide-ranging interview, Clinton addressed the big topics of the day and some of the decisions in her past:
On CIA leaker Edward Snowden:
"I believe that he should return to this country... rather than taking refuge under Putin who, so far as I know, has not been transparent about everything Russia does, and I know a lot about what Russia does. Every time I went to Russia, I had to leave all of my electronic equipment on the plane with the batteries out. And so he's sought refuge in a country that is one of our real competitors for getting information about what the other does or doesn't do…
"He is a lawbreaker. He violated American law. He violated his duties that he assumed when he took the job that he had. And if he is as proud of, or as secure in his belief that what he did was the right thing, he should come home and defend it."
On former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin:
"The day she was nominated, the Obama campaign did contact me and asked me if I would attack her. I said, 'Attack her for what, for being a woman? Attack her for being on a ticket that's trying to draw attention?’ There'll be plenty of time to do what I think you should do in politics, which is draw distinctions…
"I refused to just jump into the fray and attack someone who was on the national stage for the first time largely because she was a woman. I didn't think that was appropriate."
On her relationship with Obama:
"Well, I must say, when I finally accepted the president's offer he did say, contrary to reports, 'I think we can become good friends,' and in fact we did. And the example you're talking about, we're in Prague. It's a big rollout of the president's commitment to try to limit nuclear arms. And we're meeting with all of these important types.
"So it's after lunch, and he's gonna be going somewhere; I'm gonna be going somewhere. And he takes me, he says, 'Oh, I have to see you.' And he takes move over into the corner, and he says, 'You've got something in your teeth.' I thought, 'Boy, we have each other's backs.' I mean, that was such a gracious step for him to take."
Source: NBC news
