Chelsea Clinton touts her 'optimist gene'

In Chelsea Clinton's world, everything is rosy. Citing a recent US scientific study identifying a so-called optimism gene, the only child of former president Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday: "I definitely got it." The once highly private daughter of Washington's biggest power couple continued her ever-growing foray into public life by playing a starring role at the Clinton Global Initiative, a civil society forum run each year by her father in New York. Clinton, 32, said she wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps in giving "service." "I'm taking more responsibility," Clinton told the forum in an interview with veteran television journalist Charlie Rose. Earlier during the forum, Clinton moderated a discussion group entitled "The Case for Optimism in the 21st century." Certainly her audience seemed optimistic. Hundreds packed into the hall, including Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and New York politician Christine Quinn, widely touted as the Big Apple's likely next mayor. "I think it is impossible to be cynical here at CGI (Clinton Global Initiative," Clinton said, smiling without a break. "It's probably impossible for me to be cynical in my family." Later, Clinton even extended her avowed optimism to a sphere that Americans consistently file under "cynical": politics. "I'm optimistic about politics," she said. What Clinton did not clarify was whether her embracing of her parents' example will extend to joining the family business herself and seeking elected office. "There's no grand plan. I'm very open to grand suggestions," she told Rose.