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Washington Hillary Rodham Clinton is now 100 percent certain to run for president, up from 98 percent, sources from her nascent campaign tell Politico. She came to that decision right after Christma, and plans to announce her campaign in early April.

Was there any doubt that former Secretary of State Clinton would run? Nope, at least not in the past several months. Methodically, carefully, she has been building her team and lining up donors. And now, perhaps, the biggest question is whether any Democrats will make a serious run against her for their partys nomination.

Martin OMalley, who just left the governors chair in Maryland, has long been preparing to run. But he is holding back. Ditto Vice President Joe Biden, who has long wanted to make a third try for the Oval Office. Last week, he told ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos that theres a chance hell run, but hes seen as ready to run only if Clinton doesn't. Jim Webb, a one-term former senator from Virginia, says hes running, but hes a long shot.

Then theres Sen. Bernard Sanders (I) of Vermont, a self-described socialist who caucuses with the Democrats. He feels its important for progressive views to be represented in the campaign, and he may run possibly as a Democrat if Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts doesnt.On Monday, he announced trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, both early nominating states, as well as Pennsylvania signs he may get into the race.

So far, Senator Warren insists shes not running, and her actions bear that out. But Senator Sanders isnt seen as a major threat to Clinton the way Warren would be.

For Clinton, theres no reason to announce anytime soon. Polls show shes the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination, without any formal announcement.

"It makes no sense to announce what she's doing now," a longtime Clinton confidante told the New York Daily News. "There's no advantage for her to become the lightning rod of the Democratic Party. I would not pick a date: I would try and stay out as long as I possibly could.

The sooner Clinton announces, the sooner President Obama faces the label of lame duck and the sooner she returns fully to the campaign spotlight, with all the intense scrutiny that brings.

Besides, this past weekend showed that the Republicans are giving political reporters plenty to write about and that Democrats may well be better off sitting back and letting the opposition display its internal divisions. Between Sarah Palins rambling presentation and Donald Trumps musings about 2016 at the Iowa Freedom Summit, plus the sight of four other possible GOP contenders at a Koch brothers event in Palm Springs, Calif., the Republican Party is giving us a rerun of the messy 2012 nomination process that ended with the Democrats holding onto the White House.

Not that Clinton can sit back and assume anything. The GOP field has some new faces that make it stronger than the 2012 field, starting with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Soon enough, apparently, Clinton will announce her candidacy, and the reality of another presidential campaign will hit her.

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Will Hillary Clinton run for the Democratic nomination unopposed?