Hillary Clinton Says She���s Ready to ���Come Out of the Woods���

Come out, come out, wherever you are?

Hillary Clinton made headlines last Friday as a guest speaker at the Society of Irish Women���s 19th Annual St. Patrick���s Day dinner in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she indicated that she���s ���ready to come out of the woods.���

While the wording is apparently an allusion to well-publicized photos of her taken while walking in the woods near her Chappaqua, New York residence, the statement seems a declaration that she is returning to the public landscape in some form.

As quoted by a variety of news outlets, including The Hill, Clinton said, ���I am ready to come out of the woods and to shine a light on what���s already happening around kitchen tables at dinners like this to help draw strength to enable everyone to keep going, that's the spirit of Scranton.���

Again, it is not clear in precisely what configuration Clinton is planning to resume public life. Buzz continues to surround the prospect of her running for New York City mayor this year. While Hillary has previously said that she would throw her hat in the ring for that slot only if present Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio decided not to run, sycophantic supporters of the idea of a Mayor Clinton might make the idea of running simply irresistible to her. 

As for a considered return to the political limelight, more generally, it is difficult to assess just how well-received Hillary would be by the Democratic faithful. There remains a deep divide within the party between the progressive wing that rallied behind Bernie Sanders in the race for president, and the establishment Democrats, of which Hillary is seen as perhaps the most prominent representative. That is, while she may continue to enjoy great favor in select pockets of the country, like New York City, many speculate she might now be somewhat persona non grata with much of the party base throughout a significant portion of the rest of the country.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large