Hillary Clinton 2016: Presidential Bid Gets Endorsement From Claire McCaskill

Hillary Clinton hasn’t announced whether she’ll run for president in 2016, but she’s already gotten some important support from Senator Claire McCaskill.

On Tuesday McCaskill officially backed Hillary in 2016, adding to the growing list of high-ranking Democrats to line up behind the former Senator and Secretary of State. A super PAC, “Ready for Hillary,” announced the endorsement on its website. The group, while not directly tied to Clinton, has been aggressive in pushing for a Hillary 2016 run.

“Hillary Clinton had to give up her political operation while she was making us proud, representing us around the world as an incredible Secretary of State, and that’s why Ready for Hillary is so critical,” McCaskill said in a statement. “It’s important that we start early, building a grassroots army from the ground up, and effectively using the tools of the Internet – all things that President Obama did so successfully – so that if Hillary does decide to run, we’ll be ready to help her win.”

Hillary Clinton has amassed other support for 2016. She has a slate of other supporters and fundraisers, tapping into the network of donors her husband Bill Clinton has built during his political career and post-presidency philanthropy.

There are even reports that Hillary has the backing of President Barack Obama. It’s been reported that Obama would endorse Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 as a bit of quid pro quo after Bill Clinton endorsed his presidential runs and campaigned for Obama.

It seemed at times that a Hillary Clinton 2016 run would be a steamroller against other Democratic nominees. She once enjoyed a sizable advantage on 2016 presidential polls, easily beating all Republican challengers, but has since seen her approval ratings slip.

New 2016 presidential polls for Hillary Clinton show that her approval rating has gone from 61 percent down to 52 percent since leaving her post as Secretary of State.

“Her score is down substantially from her all-time high,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute. “One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi.”

Of course, the Claire McCaskill endorsement and approval ratings mean little until Hillary Clinton officially declares her intention to run for president in 2016. She continues to deny reports that she wants back into politics.

[Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton photo by Peter Souza via The White House and Wikimedia Commons]