Will Hillary clear the Democratic field in 2016?

>> commute to yahoo! every day.

>> that is bizarre.

>> yeah, a lot of questions. i want to hear more about that. we'll follow up. but it's time now, willie, for "politico."

>> chief white house correspondent is mike allen who's got a look at the "playbook." hey, mike.

>> hey, good morning, guys.

>> this morning on "politico," you've got a piece up, the nation's governors have assembled there in washington. "politico" reporting many of the top names on the democrats' side may be waiting on the sidelines, at least until after 2016 . we're talking about running for president here because of one woman and one woman alone.

>> well, that's exactly right, willie. the hillary factor was huge conversation among the governors themselves as they talked this weekend. republicans are almost certainly going to go with a new generation, younger candidate in 2016 . but for the democrats, the younger generation including martin o'malley of maryland, andrew cuomo of new york, they may have to wait. and they know it because someone who would be the first female president in history who hasek tear clinton's amazing resume, if you put that up against a governor's record of health care reform or gun control restrictions, there's no comparison. and they know that. it's already starting fast. look at south carolina . an early voting state. the first of the democratic states with a significant african-american population. in march, just next month, governor martin o'malley of maryland will be down there for state issues conference. probably in may, vice president biden will be at their big jefferson jackson day dinner. and look at the clintons. and this is what's inhibiting all those other guys. in april, president clinton is going to be down there in south carolina visiting some old friends and raising money forrer issy mcauliffe, his friend running for governor of virginia .

>> mike, if you look at that time line you've laid out, when would she have to start thinking about it and then doing some things behind the scenes to get that rolling?

>> i think we're going to see it very quickly. you know, we've talked before about the early steps that she's taken to keep building a list, to keep her political organization in place. she's going to be out there speaking, working on her book. but we're going to see signs of whether a political organization is coming together. so far all the signs are that they're going to, but the problem for these other guys and why she's such a colossus over this race is, she can wait longer than anybody. it's like on the republican side . florida governor jeb bush can wait longer than anyone, and that freezes a marco rubio , inhibits fund-raiser staff who might go to work for him.

>> only three years, eight months until election day .

>> counting down.

>> mike, thanks so much.