Hillary Clinton 2020: Longtime Aide Says There's a 'Not Zero' Chance of Run Against Donald Trump

A longtime aide to Hillary Clinton hinted that while it's unlikely, it's not impossible that the United States gets a rematch election in 2020. Yes, there seems to be an ever-so-slight chance President Donald Trump could see a familiar foe come his bid for re-election.

The aide, Philippe Reines, made the comments in a Politico piece—titled "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hillary?"—that examined, in detail, what Clinton's role might be moving forward in Democratic politics. The former secretary of state has remained in the public eye after her shocking election loss to Trump, and she's set to soon embark on a speaking tour with her husband, Bill Clinton, the former president. Her future could be appearing at rallies and, importantly, fundraising for Democrats.

Or it could be something else. Reines, who worked closely with Clinton for many years, suggested she should be mentioned in the same breath as top potential 2020 candidates.

"It's curious why Hillary Clinton's name isn't in the mix—either conversationally or in formal polling—as a 2020 candidate," Reines told Politico. "She's younger than Donald Trump by a year. She's younger than Joe Biden by four years. Is it that she's run before? This would be Bernie Sanders's second time, and Biden's third time. Is it lack of support? She had 65 million people vote for her."

Reines added that Clinton is an experienced fundraiser, still has a base of voters and is more than a "failed candidate": "She is smarter than most, tougher than most, she could raise money easier than most, and it was an absolute fight to the death," he told Politico.

Still, Reines admitted it wasn't all that likely Clinton would run for a second time against Trump—who, of course, defeated her in 2020 despite Clinton winning the popular vote.

Here's what he said to Politico when asked if she's running.

"It's somewhere between highly unlikely and zero," Reines said, "but it's not zero."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the comments from Reines with a bit of snark on Twitter. "Christmas coming early this year?" she posted in reaction to a story about the Clinton aide not 100 percent ruling out a 2020 run.

Most, if not all, polls have shown former Vice President Joe Biden as the top candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination. But Clinton does appear to have decent levels of support in surveys that have included her. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll in June, for instance found Biden led the way with 32 percent support but Clinton was second, with 18 percent support. Sanders, who lost the nomination to Clinton in 2016, was third, with 16 percent support.

A poll in September showed Clinton appeared to be ahead in a theoretical re-do of the 2016 election—she has 44 percent support to Trump's 36 percent.

"In 2016, I think a bunch of Americans thought to themselves, 'Let's just blow things up and see what happens,'" John Podesta, former Clinton campaign manager, said to Hill.TV about the poll at the time. "Now that they have actually seen what happens, they wish they could get back to the strong, steady leadership that Hillary has always provided."