Caroline Kennedy will endorse Hillary if she runs for President

WASHINGTON – Caroline Kennedy says she’s “absolutely” endorsing Hillary Clinton if she runs for president in 2016 – moving on from 2008, when her decision to reject Clinton and throw her support to President Obama gave him a huge boost.

That critical support is one reason Obama decided to reward Kennedy with the prestigious ambassadorship to Japan.

Speaking from Tokyo, where she dined on top-end sushi with Obama at the start of his visit there, Kennedy said she’ll back Clinton “if she runs.”

“I know it sounds like a cliché, but two years is a really long time in politics,” she told ABC News. “I’m sure she’s looking forward to being a grandmother, I know she’s got to decide soon. So, so you know I hope so.”

Caroline’s decision to endorse Obama over her home state senator six years ago gave Obama’s surging campaign the Kennedy imprimatur and was thought to have a sizable impact on the race.

Former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle called it a “12” on a scale of one to 10 for its significance.

Kennedy seemed to make backhanded criticism of Clinton when she penned her Obama endorsement, which appeared in the New York Times.

“Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign … And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning,” she wrote.

Kennedy told ABC she thinks Obama has been a great president.

“And I think that this rebalanced Asia is a really good example of somebody who’s taking the long view, advancing the United States interest,” Kennedy told ABC’s Jonathan Karl in an interview in Tokyo.

Kennedy isn’t the only one in Obama’s orbit who is getting on board with Clinton early. Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, signed on with a pro-Obama super PAC that is now positioned to back Clinton.