News that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might try to take on President Donald Trump in 2020 elicited cheers from the White House. | Joshua Lott/Getty Images Elections Former Clinton adviser says Hillary will run in 2020

Two-time Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will mount a third bid for the White House, longtime Clinton adviser Mark Penn wrote in an op-ed published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, predicting that the former first lady and secretary of state is readying a "Hillary 4.0" campaign for 2020.

In the Journal op-ed, Penn, an adviser and pollster to the Clintons from 1995-2008, and former New York City politician Andrew Stein wrote that in a 2020 run, Clinton would reinvent herself “as a liberal firebrand." The twice-failed presidential candidate would not “let a little thing like two stunning defeats stand in the way of her claim to the White House," they wrote.


Although she has routinely shot down talk of a 2020 run, Clinton said in an interview earlier this month that "I’d like to be president" after answering "no" when asked whether she wanted to run for president again.

Another longtime Clinton aide, Philippe Reines, told POLITICO last month that he thought it was odd Clinton’s name wasn’t “in the mix” of potential 2020 contenders, though he said more recently that he couldn’t think of a Democrat who would be able to successfully challenge President Donald Trump.

Clinton’s surprise loss to President Donald Trump in 2016 sent shockwaves through Democratic Party, but Penn and Stein write that two years of hand-wringing and reflection — as well as some denial on Clinton’s part — will strengthen Clinton and put her in the best position to take Trump on again.

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Though the duo did not offer an outline for how Clinton will improve her dismal standing in the Midwest or move past the scandals that plagued her in 2016, they wrote that voters should “expect Hillary 4.0 to come out swinging,” relegating former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to fundraising roles. “She has decisively to win those Iowa caucus-goers who have never warmed up to her. They will see her now as strong, partisan, left-leaning and all-Democrat — the one with the guts, experience and steely-eyed determination to defeat Mr. Trump.”

Penn and Stein offer a scathing criticism of other expected Democratic candidates, writing that Clinton “will not allow this humiliating loss at the hands of an amateur to end the story of her career,” and that while another run would likely infuriate Senate Democrats looking to take control of the party with a 2020 run, the two authors wrote that White House hopefuls in the chamber fumbled moments like the Kavanaugh confirmation as if they were “bumbling amateurs.”

“You can expect her to run for president once again. Maybe not at first, when the legions of Senate Democrats make their announcements, but definitely by the time the primaries are in full swing,” they predicted.

News that Clinton might try to take on President Donald Trump again elicited cheers from the White House. Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway on Sunday retweeted reporting on Penn and Stein's assertion, adding: “Dear God, please, yes.”