In a Q&A with Re/Code editor Kara Swisher following her speech, Clinton acknowledged she is "obviously" looking at a presidential bid. "Look, if you don't tell anybody, I am obviously talking to a lot of people, thinking it through," she said. "We have so many big issues we have to deal with, that unless we really can come together and have a national conversation about those issues, we're not going to make the progress we need."
"I'd like to bring people, from right, left, red, blue, get them into a nice, warm purple space where everybody's talking and we're actually trying to solve problems," she continued. "And that would be my objective if I decide to do this."
As careful as Clinton is to use "if" in discussing a White House bid, the question everyone around her is asking is "when"—with most observers expect her to make her run official in April.
So, Swisher asked, why wait? She noted the friendly audience of thousands of women who were hoping to hear that Clinton is definitely going to run.
"All in good time is sort of my response, because there's a lot to think about," she responded. "I have a very long list, I'm going down it. And I haven't checked off the last couple of things yet."
Still, Clinton offered up, in broad strokes, an outline of what her overarching campaign message could look like. In her formal speech, she talked about the challenges women face, especially in the tech industry, and urged action on issues important to women such as paid family leave and wage equality. She said economic success "is not a birthright" and must be earned by each generation of Americans. And she gave the speech some personal touches, talking about her own experience being pregnant as a young lawyer at a firm without a set family leave policy, as well as her thoughts on being a new grandmother.
"We have to restore economic growth with rising wages for the vast majority of Americans, and we have to restore trust and cooperation within our political system so we can act like the great country we are," she told Swisher, to applause from the audience. "This is where I'm supposed to say, 'Stay tuned,' but what I will say is: This is why we need to figure out how to go after this problem."
For Clinton, whose public appearances in the past six months have been mainly campaign-trail speeches for 2014 candidates or more traditional policy-type speeches, the Q&A portion of Tuesday's event also showcased a Clinton who appeared to be at ease—even cracking jokes onstage.
Asked whether she's an iPhone or Android person, Clinton replied that she's an iPhone person, but also noted that she still has a BlackBerry and also carries an iPad mini. "I don't throw anything away—I'm like two steps short of a hoarder," she joked.
Does she have an Apple Watch or a Fitbit? "Well, you can tell I'm not doing Fitbit," she quipped, saying that she has "enough stress in her life" without a device reminding her to exercise. "I'm not in a wearable frame of mind."