Hillary Clinton running for president?

>>> in the spotlight tonight, the aftermath of election 2012 . today when the president of the united states was getting briefed by the cia on every known threat in the world, then meeting with the prime minister, then delivering a speech on armts control at the national defense , mitt romney was rejoining the board of marriott international , a hotel chain that is much better managed than mitt romney 's presidential campaign . in an article that should have been titled " mitt romney is human after all," "the washington post " reports today that, quote, romney 's rapid retreat into seclusion has been marked by repressed emotions, second guessing and perhaps the first time in the over achiever's adult life, sustained boredom. the romney model of don't stop running after your first attempts to get the republican nomination may now be being followed by text kas governor rick perry , who according to politico has been meeting with rig bon nors and is leaving the impression that he is ready to run again. politico has said that governors jindal of louisiana, case sich of ohio and mcdonnell of virginia ventured over to the venetian for separate private meetings while they were at the governors association winter meeting . politico also reports that martin o'malley is meeting with donors in los angeles this week and has a fund-raiser scheduled in the washington suburbs and that vice president joe biden has been meeting with his donors. and david wrote, hillary clinton is running for president. he came to that conclusion after attending a forum in washington where hillary clinton was a featured speaker and was introduced by what remnick calls a short, adoring film. the film was like an international endorsement four years in advance of the iowa caucus and the new hampshire primary.

>> if you bet on the side of human rights , human dignity , more countries may have the same extraordinary good fortune that we've had. and when you smile

>> someone who knows a thing or two about political comebacks, i can tell you i don't think we've heard the last of hillary clinton . girl you're amazing just the way you are

>> i just have an instinct that the best is yet to come.

>> joining me now, "the washington post " and jonathan capeheart.

>> come on, these leaving her term as secretary of state. she's arguably been one of the best that we've had in a while. she's loved by clearly lots of people around the world, particularly foreign leaders and so there she is at this forum filled with friends of hers and there's a tribute video for her saying, you know, job well done, you're terrific. just a couple people saying, who knows what is next for her. of course who knows what is next for her because she's a young woman who is hopefully going to put her feet up and relax a little bit before entertaining ideas about 2016 when we're still in 2012 .

>> well, the hillary clinton people that i talked to tell me the decision has been made. it's under way. david remnick is right. phillip , your piece today about romney life after the election does not read like there's much fun in laum world these days.

>> well, he's trying to have a little bit of fun. he's been seeing his family. remember, he has 18 children and five grandsons and they have been cycling in and out of that la jolla beach house . he's trying to figure out what to do with his life. it's the first time since college that he hasn't had a plan, a company to run, a campaign to run or a job to fill. so he's trying to figure that out. we saw the first step today with the marriott job. he's also looking at doing some sort of a charitable endeavor or a public service component of some kind, although certainly not elected office anymore.

>> phillip , your piece says today, by all accounts the past month has been most difficult on romney 's wife ann whose friend said that ascending to the white house was their destiny. they say she's been crying in private and trying to get back to riding her horses. jonathan , given the way you saw the character of ann romney unfold during the course of the campaign, what's your reaction to that?

>> i wrote about this today. that paragraph was all of the juicy tid bits in phillip 's story and great story, phillip , on your story. that was the one that lept out at me. it struck up a familiar tone. we've heard this same tone, this one of presumptiveness, one of -- and i can't think of the word right now. but where there are three instances where people will point to where that paragraph, we saw it come before. one was when she had the interview with the iowa radio station where she said to republicans, complaining about her husband, remember she said, stop it, this is hard. you get in the ring if you think it's so easy and america should be so lucky to have someone like her husband mitt to run the country. there was the interview with diane sawyer where when she was asked, what would you say to president obama and michelle obama and she concluded her remarks by saying -- well, first she said, it's mitt's time and then ends her remarks by saying, it's our turn. you know, that is a mind set of someone who thinks that they are sort of owed sitting in the white house as opposed to earning their way into the white house .

>> phillip wrecker, please explain to me and the nation how the romneys could have been convinced to a certainty that mitt romney was going to win this election. i mean, even if all of the polls showed him in that position, which they didn't, but even if they did, the votes still have to be cast. there is still some suspense in election night .

>> well, you know, there was a feeling with the candidate and with his wife ann throughout this campaign that this was the moment, he could fix the economy and the country needed him and there was no way that the country would are reelect president obama , that this was the year for mitt romney to win. they believed that all the way to the end and the last week of the campaign and i was out on the road with him, he had these huge crowds at different events and in fact on election day he did a stop in pittsburgh to go visit his election headquarters there and saw a bunch of people up on a parking ramp right at the airport. they hadn't announced the arrival at the airport. they just showed up. they took it as an omen. they thought it was a sign that he was going to win and all the way until the networks called the race on election night that he would be the winner.

>> so jonathan , what, then, does that kind of mind do in this situation? i mean, i kind of -- i guess i kind of get the crying. the world makes no sense.

>> right. well, the world makes no sense when you live in this bubble where -- just imagine, remember what was happening over at fox news on election night , how they couldn't believe what the rest of the country saw happening and saw it happening for weeks, if not months, this echo chamber that they live in that they are going to win, that their ideas are right, that they are the ones who should be leading the country and the country said otherwise and the world i was looking for was entitled and that's -- i think that's the mind set coming from, you know, the romneys and particularly going back to the paragraph in philip 's story about ann romney and the sense of entitlement, that the white house is supposed to be theirs, it's mitt's time as opposed to what the country has to say about the matter.

>> philip , i think we have every right to expect that mitt romney into the kind of object live john that you fade into after one of these losses. i don't think he even has a chance of being as prominent as bob dole was after he lost in 1986 . he had given up his senate seat so had no more jobs in republican politics but he he had a substantial republican career behind him which a lot of people remembered.

>> yeah. i mean, the problem for mitt romney now is the party is moving beyond him very quickly. it's only been about four weeks and his ideas are not being discussed in washington . there's not much of any reference to him. the republican leaders who are young and up and coming are talking about how to rebrand and rebuild the party and some people close to mitt romney said he doesn't really have much of an interest of being involved in that kind of conversation.

>> philip ruker and jonathan capehart, thank you for joining me tonight.

>> thanks.

>>> coming up, in the rewrite, mike huckabee , herman cain are upset at bob costas who said what had to be said during his football coverage