Hillary Clinton didn't even get through the Democratic primaries in 2008 when an upstart named Barack Obama took the party's nomination for president. So she sat out 2012 and he's re-elected.

In 2016, she believed, it was her turn. She lost to Donald Trump.

So is 2020 hers to claim?

She's repeatedly stated that she's not running this year.

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"Never say never" was one equivocating comment she released.

And now it's looking more like she's the only hope for Democrats.

New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin doubts the viability of either Joe Biden or "the dreaded Bernie Sanders."

"Instead of a smooth ride, it's more likely that the Dems' desperate search for a Trump slayer will hit more turbulence and an alternative to Biden still could be necessary," he wrote. "Guess what — one just happens to be waiting in the wings, hoping for an invitation. Before you laugh at the prospect of a Hillary Clinton comeback, consider the too-weird twists and turns of Biden's campaign."

He pointed out that only a few weeks ago Biden finished fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire, second in Nevada and was considered by many "toast."

The party appeared to have left him behind amid the "brain freezes and frequent bouts of oddball references," he said.

Questions about whether Biden "is capable" of being president "can't be avoided," Goodwin said.

The whole scenario, he said, "leaves Clinton as the best backup plan."

"She's hardly my cup of tea but for all her problems, including doubts about her physical stamina, she is a fundraising machine, has a true following and could hit the ground running."

Not only is Hillary Clinton's publicity running at full steam, with a book, talk shows and more, she is gleefully trying "to stick knives into Trump and Sanders," Goodwin said.

Randy DeSoto at the Western Journal notes other indicators, pointing out her recent interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria in which she did not consider Sanders to be the Democrats' "strongest nominee against Donald Trump."

And she wouldn't endorse Biden.

"In late January, Clinton admitted she has the urge to run against Trump and thinks she would win," WJ reported. "It is not clear whether Biden or Sanders will garner the needed 1,991 pledged delegates to secure the nomination during the primary elections, meaning a contested convention could follow.

"Then, perhaps Clinton could reemerge as the Democratic standard-bearer in a rematch against Trump."

In an interviewed with Emma Barnett, she was asked, "Are you going to run again?"

Clinton replied, "No."

But almost immediately she added, "I never say never to anything."

"I think all the time about what kind of president I would have been and what I would have done differently and what I think it would have meant to our country and the world," she said.

She also noted "many, many, many people" who want her to run.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, longtime Clinton counselor Philippe Reines said Clinton had not "foreclosed the possibility" of running.