Is this the year of honoring Hillary? Clinton racks up accolades as she weighs 2016 run. In all, Clinton has racked up at least 15 awards in the nine months since she left the State Department, with more to come at the same time she is weighing a presidential campaign in 2016. Her supporters say the accolades are well deserved. But it also appears that Clinton has figured out how to leverage the awards to her political advantage, just as the groups honoring her benefit from having the would-be candidate promote their causes. The awards circuit has effectively become Clinton's pre-campaign campaign, allowing her to speak out on issues of her choosing and cement ties with key Democratic constituencies - all with little apparent political risk. "She is basking in the glow of what many perceive as a successful run as secretary of state and as a former senator and what many believe to be the probable Democratic nominee for president of the United States," Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said. "When you have that combination of power, everybody wants to say, "Hello!" " The Elton John AIDS Foundation gala, emceed by NBC's Matt Lauer, was a magnet for Hollywood A-listers and Manhattan bigwigs. The invitation listed more than 100 hosts, including rockers Courtney Love, Cyndi Lauper, Mick Jagger and Billy Joel, as well as actors Hugh Jackman, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin and Russell Crowe. Arriving on the red carpet outside the Cipriani Wall Street ballroom, John said he hoped Clinton becomes president. "It's a huge honor just to even honor her," he said, adding that she is "the kind of human being that I love." Most of her public appearances this year have come at tightly choreographed awards ceremonies or at closed-press trade conventions, such as one held Tuesday morning in Atlanta by the National Association of Convenience Stores. Some appearances net her upward of $200,000. "It appears the only way to get Hillary to do an event is to either write her a big check or to give her a trophy," said Tim Miller, executive director of America Rising PAC, the leading Republican group going after Clinton in anticipation of her 2016 candidacy. Some of the awards given to Clinton seem tailor-made for her. God's Love We Deliver, a New York charity that provides meals and counseling to people with AIDS, is giving her the first Michael Kors Community Service Award at a fundraising gala Wednesday night.