But isn't part of treating someone like an active candidate asking questions like "Why do you want to run for president? What would you do as president?" etc. Those seem like pretty basic, fundamental parts of a campaign to me.
Particularly, as someone who likes and would almost certainly support Hillary, I'm inclined to listen to what she says, and if she hasn't said she's definitely running, I'm not going to be as active in that support. When a candidate announces they get a boost from supporters who know the candidate has asked for their vote and their support and is explicitly in the game with them.
I also don't see the logic of using a non-announcement to duck important questions, since they're only going to come anyway if she does announce. And if she dislike campaigning so much that she's making major campaign decisions on the basis of reducing her campaigning time, she's probably genuinely hesitant about running anyway, or should be. Running for president is non-stop campaigning and if the candidate doesn't like it, it shows.
Anyway, if Bernstein is saying he wants to attack and criticize Hillary regardless of whether she's announced or not, it's his right to do so. But I think the picture he paints is incomplete and an announcement is a bigger deal than he's making it out to be.
