Will Hillary Clinton Run Again in 2016?

The Secretary of State disavows another presidential campaign, but commentators don't seem to believe her

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Moscow this morning negotiating over Iran and nuclear disarmament, but columnists say it may not be long before she's back on the campaign trail. On Monday's Today Show, Clinton said she would not run for president again. "I'm looking forward to retirement at some point," she told NBC's Anne Curry. And yet, commentators, especially female ones, say Clinton looks stronger and more secure on the political stage than ever before. Many remain stubbornly unconvinced that a 2016 presidential run is out of the question. Here's what they're saying about Clinton's next act:

• Is She Sure She Doesn't Want to Run for President? At Politics Daily, Bonnie Goldstein is disappointed. "I do hate to abandon the notion of a Hillary Clinton/Sarah Palin matchup in some future political girl team dream playoff game." Like Brown, Goldstein says Clinton's new found sense of satisfaction is gratifying. Clinton, she writes, is "saying she's already a big girl in a big job and feels very comfortable with the way things have turned out ('maybe it's a woman thing')."

• Count on Seeing Hillary in 2016  At Politicker, Steve Kornacki says Clinton's ambition is as transparent as ever. "No matter what she says right now, there really is every reason to suspect that Mrs. Clinton will end up running for president again—in 2016, when the Democratic nomination will be wide open." And Kornacki says she's increasingly well positioned to win. "More than a year later, Mrs. Clinton remains the second-biggest name in Democratic politics, behind only Mr. Obama. No one else—not even Mr. Biden—is even close. And, so far at least, her work as secretary of state has only enhanced her stature."

• A New Woman  Tina Brown says anything is possible now that the Secretary of State has finally embraced her "female nature". "Perhaps losing your life’s dream (or being freed from it, depending on how you look at it) pushes the reset button like nothing else. After some rocky moments, Hillary seems to have found, in the heart of her chief rival’s administration, an unexpected comfort level." Brown says it's refreshing for women to see. "It’s as if she has checked out of that tiresome phallic competition and acknowledged what’s different—and valuable—about her own female nature."

• Merely Pretending She Won't Run  Despite her protests to the contrary, Allapundit at Hot Air says "Dude, she’s totally running--albeit certainly not in 2012 as an upstart challenger to The One. She's too good of a soldier to do that, per her diving headfirst into the tank here to defend his Nobel win."

• Don't Throw Away the 'Hillary' Signs Yet, Jason Zengerle writes at The New Republic. "If Hillary does decide to run in 2016, no one will fault her for saying in 2009 that she wasn't going to run. In fact, the only answer that could have gotten her in trouble would be to answer Curry's question with a 'yes.'"