When New York Sen. Hillary Clinton met with top advisers and fund-raisers at her Chappaqua mansion Sunday night, the possibility that she might run for president in 2004 was on the table.
"That topic wasn't off limits to those in attendance," reports Long Island's Newsday, citing "sources" familiar with what transpired at the gathering.
The high-powered sit-down included 150 Democrats and was billed as a meeting about Sen. Clinton's 2006 re-election campaign.
It wasn't specifically a fund-raising meeting, Newsday added, "but some checks may have changed hands."
The strategy session took place as President Bush's approval rating tumbled to just 45 percent in the latest Zogby poll - the lowest level since the 9/11 attacks.
Political experts from Rush Limbaugh to former White House political guru Dick Morris have said that if the Clintons determine that Bush can be beaten in 2004, Mrs. Clinton will enter the race.
In the last two weeks, Sen. Clinton has repeatedly described President Bush as "beatable" in 2004, though she insists she will leave the task to some other Democrat.
Ex-President Clinton was on hand at the gathering, although it's not known what role he played. Another likely attendee: former deputy White House chief of staff Harold Ickes, who masterminded Mrs. Clinton's successful 2000 Senate run. Ickes has recently been put in charge of finding ways around the campaign finance laws for the 2004 presidential race.
Dick Morris told NewsMax two weeks ago that Ickes' involvement in the Democrats' presidential fund-raising operation was a clear indication that Sen. Clinton was at least "considering" a 2004 White House run.
Those who attended the Chappaqua powwow were treated to a list of Clinton's accomplishments in Washington, including her announcement over the weekend that she would hold the Bush White House accountable for what she says was a cover-up of Ground Zero air quality in the days after the 9/11 attacks.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2004 Elections
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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