Hillary Clinton is said to be contemplating another presidential run in 2020. But young women, who were a majority of her voters in 2016, are not sure if they will support her.

“She will lose again,” said Mia Flanagan, 18, who said that she had seen the news about the potential run on Twitter and had hoped it was fake. “She will obviously lose again.”  

If Clinton does decide to run, 2020 would be her third presidential bid. In 2008, she campaigned against Barack Obama, losing in the primaries. In 2016, she lost in the general election to Donald Trump, despite winning the popular vote, following a campaign marred by scandals.

Many of the women spoken to said that they thought a stronger Democratic candidate would be needed in the 2020 election. It is expected that President Donald Trump will run for re-election in 2020, especially following a pledge of support from the Republican National Committee. As of now, there are no other obvious Republican candidates.

“It’ll be the same chase [as 2016] again, where we had decent candidates up against Hillary,” said Rosa Miranda, 21. “She came through – and she was not my favorite – and she came up against Trump, and Trump got her. I’d rather her not run.”

There was also a concern that Clinton would have enough support to win the primary, against candidates such as Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren, but that she would again lose in the general election.

“I think if Hillary runs again, none of those other Democrats are going to be able to stand a chance,” said Miranda. “I don’t know why she keeps winning [primaries], but she’s going to, and then the Republicans are going to win again.”

Flanagan thought the opposite – that Clinton would lose in the primaries, leaving the field wide-open for another Democratic candidate.

“She’ll lose again,” said Flanagan. “Judging by her opponents in the first election and the way that all went down, it doesn’t look good for her, especially with everyone else running.”

Despite her reservations about Clinton, Flanagan was also hesitant to support any other Democratic candidate, as was her friend Maddie Janz, 18.

“I’ve heard some weird stuff about [Kamala Harris],” said Flanagan. “When she first came out about her candidacy I was like ‘Oh, this is great.’ And then I was like ‘Oh, her policies…’” Harris has caught some pushback for her record as a prosecutor, with some saying that her history doesn’t match her persona as a progressive candidate.

Janz hoped that others, including Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, who are expected to announce 2020 campaigns, wouldn’t run.

“That’s not happening,” said Janz, about the possibility of Biden running. “I won’t allow it. Please don’t.”

While they were hesitant about the other candidates, both Flanagan and Janz said that they would rather support them than Clinton.

“I just can’t believe that she’s willing to put herself through that again,” said Janz. “I don’t think she should run.”

Ramirez agreed. “I would rather her not run.”

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“I’m very anxious and excited,” said Risa Levine, 52. “I even brought champagne to celebrate the announcement.”

Levine wore not only a pink t-shirt with Clinton’s likeness, but her jean jacket was sprinkled with Hillary buttons reading slogans like, “I’m a woman for Hillary” and “Hillary sent me”.

Levine of Manhattan was one of three supporters who stood patiently and excitedly snapping selfies. She was joined by Tim Dangora, 36, also of Manhattan. A tall man donning a Hillary baseball cap and patriotically colored, “Hillary for president” t-shirt he had just one simple statement to make.

“America deserves Hillary,” said Dangora.

According to a March 29th Pew Research Center Poll 59 percent of democrats say there is a “good chance” they will vote for Clinton.

While the Clinton opponents were not physically present, their message could be seen hung from stop lights and pasted randomly to public surfaces. An unknown group or individual placed anti-Clinton posters in the area surrounding One Pierrepoint Plaza early Sunday morning. The design included an unflattering greyscale portrait of Clinton surrounded by phrases such as “Don’t Say Entitled” “Don’t Say Secretive” and “Don’t Say Polarizing”.

Despite her star power Clinton remains a polarizing and sometimes controversial candidate and has been on the receiving end of criticism from politicians and citizens. Republicans were quick to lambaste Clinton after her official announcement calling her untrustworthy.

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Lange’s Little Store, on King Street in Chappaqua.

The news trucks breathlessly reported the breaking story from the Chappaqua grocery store parking lot, more than a decade ago. As far as anyone could remember, it was the first time the Secret Service had come to the hamlet of Chappaqua, New York, a 50-minute ride to Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal via Metro North, in Westchester County. It was also the first time that the town could claim a former president as a resident, along with his wife, whose political career would grow from senator to potential presidential nominee to Secretary of State. Bill and Hillary Clinton had transformed Chappaqua into Bill-and-Hill-Ville.

Residents were abuzz back then. Along with nearby restaurants owners, they would eagerly share tales of casual run-ins with the 42^nd president at Starbucks or the now-defunct Second Story Bookstore. Sightings of Hillary were less frequent, with her burgeoning role in public service, though she dutifully marched in the town’s Memorial Day parade, most recently with Governor Andrew Cuomo, who owns a house in neighboring Mount Kisco. Shopkeepers along South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua’s equivalent to Main Street, hung photos of themselves posing with one or two Clintons behind the cash register.

But has the aura of celebrity faded? The residents initially loyally followed each move, especially Bill’s, but the gee-whiz enthusiasm appears to have subsided. Seeing Clinton walk his dogs past my parents’ house, followed by a security detail including a bouncer-like agent with a visible holster and a slow-rolling, tinted-window SUV, is still startling but it’s no longer a cause for celebration.

The former president is a frequent customer of Lange’s Little Store, a delicatessen nestled among a cluster of shops at the intersection of King Street and South Bedford Road. It’s less than a five-minute drive from his white house (not the one on Pennsylvania Avenue). The manager, George Haletzky, recalls Clinton’s first visit to the store. “I was here right from the beginning,” he said. “It was like a circus, a good circus, but a circus. Anytime you get to meet somebody that important … it’s also kind of an honor.”

The manager says that Clinton has stopped by less frequently lately (“I think it’s because he’s been busy campaigning”) and was happy to discuss the former president’s menu choices (“he eats healthy food, anywhere from egg white omelets to turkey sandwiches.

Vincent (“call me Vinny”) Milazzo, a store manager at Chappaqua Village Market, a specialty food store, was much more guarded in discussing the presidential palate. His family has owned the business for more than three decades, selling choice cuts of meat, fresh-baked bread and pastries, and Italian cooking essentials, among other goods. Train tracks are located just across the road, at the beginning of King Street, and the whistle can be heard as a southbound train rolls by.

Citing trouble with Clinton’s press team in Washington for interviews he had previously granted, Milazzo, 48, would only speak in generic terms. He has finessed his Clinton spiel: They come in often and they’re very friendly, he conceded. It’s much less crazy when they visit these days compared to a decade ago.

At Grafflin Elementary School, Principal Mike Kirsch warned that he would be cautious in discussing the Clintons, who come to visit when voting booths are moved into the lobby on Election Day. “My role is [to be] the elementary school principal, not to talk about the president,” Kirsch said. Just a few weeks before the election, the lobby doesn’t look like a polling site, with rows of tables showing “The Second Grade Pumpkin Parade of Literature” lined up against the wall displaying fifth graders’ fish artwork.

The political couple’s attendance on Election Day has waned in the past few years, he said, adding, “so I guess they’re voting absentee.” The first Tuesday in November is treated as a staff development day in the Chappaqua Central School District, Kirsch explained. “Typically, we don’t have students here, but if [the Clintons] come when the parents are voting, he’ll talk.” The principal has been a Chappaqua resident for 38 years, so he’s seen Bill outside of the school walls, saying, “He is extraordinarily gracious.”

Even a United States President can blend seamlessly into the fabric of a town. But a Clinton appearance can still occasionally cause a minor frenzy. Last summer, a woman paying for her beverage at Starbucks rushed outside to greet the former president before completing the transaction, joining a small crowd of others waiting to shake hands and capture iPhone photos. This Election Day, Chappaqua voters can only hope for an extra frisson of excitement—and perhaps one more sighting—when they head to the polls.

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