As 2016 looms, Hillary keeping up with supporters

Ken Thomas, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Whether she runs for president or not in 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton is making sure she stays connected to important Democratic constituencies, from college students and black women to the gay and lesbian community.

Clinton has spoken to a women's institute in Pennsylvania, a prominent black women's sorority in the nation's capital, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles and an organization called Chicago House that helps people with HIV and AIDS.

Her fall itinerary includes speeches before college students at three universities in New York, which she represented in the Senate, an award from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a speech at a Minneapolis synagogue and an event involving a Mexican-American initiative at the University of Southern California.

In many of her speeches, Clinton talks about America's role in the world and weighs in on national issues on her own terms. Her words often seem to be aimed at maintaining a connection to the party's base of women, black and Hispanic voters, young people and gays and lesbians.

While her speeches avoid partisan politics, they put her before admiring audiences that relish the notion of a woman leading the country.

"We really ask ourselves deep down what it's going to take to elect a woman president," Clinton said Thursday in response to a question during a Miami address to travel agents. "And I will certainly do what I can when that time comes to elect somebody — whoever that somebody might be."

In one of her first public acts after leaving government, Clinton endorsed gay marriage, putting her in line with members of her own party. In July, Clinton told about 14,000 members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the nation's oldest black college sorority, that the not guilty verdict in the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin had brought "deep, painful heartache" for many families.

Her speech to the Delta convention and a separate address to the American Bar Association in San Francisco focused on her critique of the Supreme Court's decision to invalidate parts of the Voting Rights Act, a decision that angered many liberals. Clinton said the ruling could make it more difficult for the poor and elderly to vote, words that were embraced with shouts of "Run, Hillary, Run," at the end of her speech.

In Chicago, Clinton echoed her husband's recent speech in support of Obama's health care law, saying the overhaul should be implemented and improved where necessary. "Nobody has a better idea," she said.

She also expressed hope that Congress would avoid defaulting on the nation's debt. "I just hope they realize this could be a terrible self-inflicted wound that would have implications for everything we care about," she said.

Earlier this month, Clinton received the Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The group's chairman, former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., credited Clinton's "lifelong career in public service." Famous friends and supporters, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and tennis star Billie Jean King, praised her in video testimonials.

Her childhood development initiative with the Clinton Foundation, called Too Small to Fail, features a leadership council that includes former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Cindy McCain, the wife of Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

Her travel can often resemble a victory lap, filled with awards and acclaim. In addition to speeches at three New York universities, in the heart of where she built her first campaign for Senate, Clinton will be honored by Yale Law School, where she earned her law degree, and the Children's Defense Fund, where she started her work in the 1970s as an advocate for women and children.

Hillary Clinton is writing a book, due out next spring, about her time as the nation's top diplomat, and will discuss her work on health and economic issues related to women and children during this coming week's Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.

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Associated Press writer Michael J. Mishak in Miami contributed to this report. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.