Harkin: 2016 ‘weighing heavily’ on Hillary

Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin doesn’t know if Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2016.

The Iowa Democrat said the decision is “weighing heavily” on Clinton, who has “more chapters” to write in her book.

His remarks Friday during an interview with Iowa Public Television, come nearly a week after Bill and Hillary Clinton headlined his final steak fry in Indianola, Iowa, fueling presidential talk in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Before taking the stage at the event — Harkin, who’s spent nearly 40 years in Congress, — said Hillary’s eyes lit up when she watched him play with his grandchildren. The longtime senator asked Clinton, a soon-to-be grandmother, to take a photograph with his entire clan in a shed at the annual event.

“And she just wistfully said to me, ‘It just looks so wonderful,’ she said, ‘because now I’m going to have grandchildren,’” Harkin explained.

“And I’ve got to think it weighs heavy,” he continued. “I mean, she has been first lady of Arkansas, first lady of the United States, U.S. senator, secretary of State, that’s a lot of public service. And if you’re going to run for President that’s a ten year commitment.”

Harkin, who lost to Bill Clinton in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary, said he doesn’t believe Hillary has already decided to run.

“People say, ‘Oh, she has already made the decision.’ I don’t think so,” Harkin said. “I think this is weighing heavily on her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went one way or the other.”

Bill and Hillary Clinton’s only daughter, Chelsea, announced her pregnancy last spring and is due to give birth sometime in the fall.