Supporters of the former secretary of state gathered in Baker University Center on Monday to promote Hillary Clinton as a candidate for president in 2016.
The former U.S. senator and first lady has not announced a presidential run, but students were advocating that they are Ready For Hillary if she runs.
“Across the country there is tremendous enthusiasm for Hillary’s candidacy,” said Seth Bringman, Ready for Hillary’s national spokesman. “She needs to know that if she decides to run, she will have an organization behind her and her candidacy every step of the way.”
The super-PAC is taking a grassroots approach, focusing more on finding supporters than running political ads, Bringman said.
Supporters of Clinton include local lawmakers who had supported her in her 2008 presidential run, such as Ohio Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, and Ohio Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Albany.
“I was very supportive and active in her campaign then. It’s an effort by some of us who feel she would be a good candidate to help encourage her candidacy now,” Gentile said. “I want to encourage her in the strongest possible way to run.”
Phillips believes that if Democrats can do well in the 2014 Statehouse elections, they have a better chance of retaining the White House in 2016.
“Ohio really is a state that is trending Democrat,” Phillips said. “2014 is critical but it’s never too early to think about 2016.”
Although Athens County Republican Party Chairman Pete Couladis doesn’t want to see Clinton elected, he said he would like to see her nominated.
“For the Democrats it would be a disaster,” he said.
Couladis added that some Clinton supporters might be coming out early because they are giving up on President Barack Obama.
“They’ve been lied to so many times about this health care issue; reality is starting to hit them in the face,” Couladis said. “I think people are realizing it’s not the way it was promised to be.”
But Gentile said he did not believe Ready for Hillary was driven by distaste for Obama, but instead, support for Clinton.
Part of this early preparation stems from Ohio’s historic status as a swing state, Gentile said.
“Ohio is an important state, and we want the most important candidates to surface,” he said.
@LucasDaprile
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