Hillary: Keeping the door open

>>> show." many americans are following the exit of hillary clinton with tremendous interest. she is ending her tenure as secretary of state. and the same question is on the mind of every progressive in this country -- will she run? will she lead the movement in 2016 . here is what secretary clinton said when andrea mitchell asked her about her health, and if it would be a factor in her decision.

>> i have no doubt that i'm healthy enough and my stamina is great enough, and i'll be fully recovered to do whatever i choose to do. but i don't have any decisions made. i have no real plans to make any such decisions.

>> in 2012 in december, you told my friend barbara walters that you had no intention of running for president.

>> right. that.

>> brought to mind, it sounded familiar. so we looked it up. in december of 2001 , you told tim russert you had no intention of running for president.

>> and i didn't.

>> can we come to the agreement that the door is being left wide open ? she tactfully positioning herself with an artful response. don't expect secretary clinton to give an answer now, but this is something we as liberals should be pushing for big-time. we are now a center-left country, and we need a strong standard-bearer once president obama step downs four years from now, and president obama 's popularity is now the highest it has been since the first few months he was in office. today's poll numbers are a reflection of the president's inauguration speech when he spoke boldly of progressive values in the country. i'm joined tonight by joy reid, managing editor of the grio. i mean, if she were to run, if she were to announce, wouldn't there be just this groundswell enthusiasm because we know she is so qualified?

>> well, i think partly because of her clear and obvious qualifications, but also, hillary land has a pent-up desire for this woman that has never gone away there was tremendous resentment between obama and hillary camps in 2008 partly because her supporters are so passionate about the idea that she should be our first woman president. it was very hard for them to walk away from that. there was a big push to get her on the ticket, to be vice president. they were disappointed that didn't happen. she then takes the job of secretary of state and really acquitted herself well. i think her approval ratings might even be higher than barack obama 's, probably are. she has now positioned herself in terms of her qualification. she isn't just a former first lady, not that that's not amazing, but she is also now a qualified international figure in her own right.

>> and she is going to go home and take a nap, a long one. she is going to exercise. she is going to take care of herself. she is going to read. she is going to do some philanthropic type work, do some speaking, and she is going to hear wherever she goes, you have to do it. and i think most democratic candidates thinking about it are going to say i'm not even going to go down this road. hillary is rung. would she be a shoo-in? would there even be any other competitors out there?

>> i think there is no one to really compete with her. by the way, she would never admit she wants to run now because it would understood mine her still current boss, president barack obama . you never want to admit when a president is just reelected that you would make him a lame duck. somebody with that star power , somebody like hillary clinton , the minute she said she wanted to run, it would then compete with president obama in terms of the public's attention. and by the way, saying that you have no intention of running is meaningless in politics. i went back and looked at an old chicago magazine article from 2006 in which barack obama was quoted in 2004 saying he wouldn't run and in 2006 saying he had no intention of running for president.

>> the thing that i would be excited about is that hillary clinton would be the perfect democrat to move the health care pendulum even further where most americans want it to go. she is an advocate of universal health care , if you can get it there, which i think would be absolutely the best thing for the country. here she is at a town hall when she was asked about her future plans. this is interesting.

>> i do want to see more women compete for the highest positions in their countries. and i will do what i can, whether or not it is up to me to make a decision on my own future. i right now am not inclined to do that. but i will do everything i can to make sure that women compete at the highest levels not only in the united states , but around the world.

>> you know, the big issue right now for the president is getting immigration reform passed.

>> right.

>> that was the issue that somewhat became problematic for hillary clinton in one of the debates when she was talking about a driver's license.

>> correct.

>> of an undocumented worker. and then it kind of snowballed that was kind of the game changer in the competition between she and president obama . how important would it be to get immigration reform done and then set the table for her to take on another big issue in this country? which of course could be health care , which of course could be women's rights.

>> absolutely. and the health care plan we have right now is a lot closer to the one she proposed during the campaign because barack obama was against the individual mandate and she was for it. but yeah, on immigration, if immigration reform were to get done, i think republicans are even starting to realize this, it would redound mostly to the benefit of democrats. latinos are trending toward the democratic party on most issues. i think it would help republicans only marginally and democrats a lot more. it would get that issue off the table. if she were to run, which a lot of people think she will, i think she will, she is going to have a lot of successes in the previous administration to kind of push off and run.

>> joy reid, great to have you on "the ed show." thank you.

>> good to be here.

>> a lot more coming up in the next half hour of the program. stay with us. we're coming right back.

>> cut spending.

>> cut spending.

>> cut spending.

>> cutting spending.

>> republican cuts lead to an ugly new report on the economy. up next, david cay johnston on why republican obsession with austerity is hurting the country.

>>> just like the villains from " scooby doo ", republicans keep getting busted stealing votes.