ABC: Six Signs You’re Running for President in 2016

ABC News put together a little fluff piece outlining six ways to tell if a particular figure is running in 2016. Most of this is pretty obvious.

1. You’re Going to Iowa

It’s only been 82 weeks since the 2012 Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest in the country. And the 2016 caucuses are just under two-and-a-half years away.

But like your annoying neighbor who never seems to go away, presidential hopefuls think now is just the right time to head back to the Hawkeye State.

2. Deny that you’re interested in running for president, sort of

Every presidential hopeful is like the Miguel Cabrera of non-denial denials. They knock it out of the park every time.

3. You’re locking horns with another presidential contender

Rand Paul and Chris Christie are staking out positions as standard bearers of the libertarian and establishment wings of the GOP, respectively. And they’re not doing much to hide their disdain for one another.

4. You sit through “friendly” meals

For the past five years, President Obama and Hillary Clinton have put the past aside and been total BFFs.

And now that Hillary is thinking about running for president again, they’re doing everything they can to put that friendship on display. I mean, just look at this photo from their lunch on Monday. Best friends.

5. You’ve got a PAC on your side

It’s way too early for potential candidates to form their actual campaigns, but many of them already have political action committees working on their behalf.

6. You’ve been arrested on gun charges

We in the media spend way too much time covering the major party candidates. What about the lesser, third-party candidates?

One who’s been in the news recently is anti-government activist Adam Kokesh. He was arrested earlier this month after posting a video of himself holding an apparently loaded shotgun in downtown Washington, D.C. on July 4th, according to reports.

Kokesh says that he’s going to run for president on a platform of abolishing the U.S. government. But you’ll have to wait until 2020 to get a glimpse of him on the campaign trail.

Well, number 6 doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone. But 1 through 5 are spot on.