What's next for Hillary Clinton?

Hillary Clinton addresses the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds celebration at the Newseum in Washington, Nov. 16, 2016. (Cliff Owen/AP)

In the wake of a surprising loss to President Donald Trump in the U.S. election in November, political pundits, members of the media and Democratic supporters are speculating about what comes next for Hillary Clinton.

A number of media outlets including Newsmax, The New York Times and the New York Daily News began reporting, earlier in January, that Democrats are pressing Clinton to run for mayor of New York City later this year. The Clinton camp has not confirmed these rumours.

A recent poll published last week by Quinnipiac University found that Clinton would beat current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio 49 per cent to 30 per cent if she were to run as an independent. Emily Shire, the politics editor for Bustle, told CTV’s Your Morning that Clinton could easily win the New York City election if she wanted to because she more popular than de Blasio in the city. She said the real issue would be whether or not Clinton would even want to take a run for the position.

“She wanted to be president of the United States, she didn’t want to be mayor of a city, granted perhaps the most influential city in America, but still I don’t think this is what she had in mind for her future,” Shire explained on Tuesday.

Shire said she expects the former Secretary of State to play a behind-the-scenes role in the future, perhaps grooming future democratic candidates and working to strengthen the Democratic National Committee. Clinton might also assist her allies by campaigning for them in the 2018 senate midterm races.

On the subject of a Clinton run for the presidency in 2020? Shire said that’s highly unlikely.

“She suffered a pretty bruising and stunning loss. She also suffered a loss that revealed a schism in the Democratic Party,” Shire said. “She represented more of the status quo and she was up against Bernie Sanders who really represented the move further to the left and someone who was considered a bit fresher.”

Shire thinks Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren might run for the presidency in 2020. She said Warren helped Clinton during the campaign and she could easily see the roles reversed if Warren were to make a bid in 2020.

Clinton tweeted that she had been scrolling through images from the women’s march on Saturday, and that they were “awe-inspiring” and brought her joy. Shire said she expects Clinton to become more involved in the women’s rights movements in the future.

She pointed to how Clinton’s emphasis on becoming the first female president and the historic nature of her bid was more pronounced during her 2016 run compared to her 2008 campaign.

“I think she will embrace this role in the future and become much more of an icon in this movement,” Shire said.