Hillary's next Prez bid 'will be better' than 2008: Bill

Hillary Clinton's next presidential bid "will be better" than her last, former US President Bill Clinton has said, all but confirming that his wife will run for the White House in 2016.

Bill Clinton, in an interview aired yesterday, said if Hillary launches another bid for the presidency in 2016, she will be a more able competitor than she was in 2008, when she was defeated for the Democratic party nomination by Barack Obama.

"The next one will be better," the former president was quoted as saying by ABC News.

"It will be different, whether she's in it or not. They're all different. And the main thing is you must learn the lessons of your mistakes and your failures without becoming a general who fights the last war, because every new encounter will be shaped by different forces," Bill Clinton said.

"You've got to have a plan for the future that relates to the future that relates to the people," Bill Clinton said about the lessons learnt from Hillary's previous bid.

"This is not about the candidates as much as it's about having a plan for the future. And secondly, you have to have a strategy for presenting your true self to the voters in an environment where there are unprecedented opportunities for those who don't want you to win to paint a different picture of your true self," he said.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton's bid was widely judged to have been outfoxed by the Obama campaign, and Bill Clinton said that lessons had been learnt from it.

"Big data helps, it really matters, and you have to merge high tech with grass roots," he said, conceding that Obama "had a better grass-roots organisation in many states."

Hillary Clinton, the 65-year-old former Secretary of State, has said she is wrestling with the idea of contesting the 2016 presidential polls but is "pragmatic" and "realistic" about her decision, which close aides claim is a "foregone conclusion".

On being asked in an interview by the New York magazine whether she wrestles with the idea of running for president, Clinton replied, "I do".

Democrats are watching her moves closely for any indication of her decision, which could have a major influence on whether others decide to enter the race.

Potential contenders include Vice President Joe Biden, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.