Hillary Clinton
put an end to months of speculation on Sunday by officially announcing
her candidacy for president, giving the former secretary of state
another shot at cracking the highest glass ceiling in American politics.
The initial word came in an email to supporters from John Podesta, a longtime Clinton ally, then a video launched on YouTube and a newly minted Facebook page.
"I'm getting ready to do something too.
I'm running for president," Clinton said in the video. "Everyday
Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can
do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead. Because
when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to
earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on
this journey."
The video was shot last
week, a campaign official told CNN. Clinton's part was shot in New York
with the rest of the video shot in places including Iowa and New
Hampshire, a campaign official told CNN.
Clinton
was at her home in New York for the launch of her campaign. She will be
making some calls to top Democrats Sunday, as will her senior staff,
according to a campaign official.
Following the video release, the Clinton campaign sent our a press release detailing her next steps.
"She's
committed to spending the next six to eight weeks in a 'ramp up' period
where her team will start to build a nation-wide grassroots
organization, and she will spend her time engaging directly with
voters," according to the release. "In May, once her supporters in all
50 states are organized for house parties or to watch over live streams,
Hillary will hold her first rally and deliver the speech to kick off
her campaign."
She'll travel to Monticello, Iowa on Tuesday before heading to Norwalk on Wednesday, according to a campaign aide.
Clinton's
second presidential run is another chapter in a life that has seen the
former first lady go from a child raised in a conservative home outside
Chicago to one of the most recognizable women in the world. Clinton
became a household name in 1992 when her husband, Bill Clinton, won the
presidency.
Since then, Hillary
Clinton has become a force in her own right, serving in the Senate for
eight years, unsuccessfully running for president in 2008 and leading
the State Department from 2009 to 2013.
Over
the coming months, Clinton's campaign will plot how to reintroduce the
former first lady -- on her own terms -- to the American people.
Democrats close to Clinton have started to call her the most unknown
famous person in the world. Their argument is that people know of
Clinton -- she has near 100% name recognition in most polls -- but they
don't know her story.
Using small, controlled events with
everyday people, the campaign will hone in on Clinton's personal story,
using themes such as her Midwestern upbringing, her mother's
perseverance in the face of neglectful parents and Clinton's own time
raising a daughter to cast the presidential hopeful in a more favorable,
softer light than she was seen during much of her 2008 presidential
run.
Clinton's candidacy has been
widely anticipated. Even since before Clinton left the State Department
in early 2013, speculation that she would take another shot at the White
House has followed her.
For her part,
Clinton willingly teased those expectations for the better part of the
last two years as she crisscrossed the country delivering paid speeches,
selling her new memoir and stumping for Democrats during the 2014
midterm elections. Throughout all of it, Clinton was
consistently peppered with questions about her presidential ambitions
and plans for the future. She was reluctant to tease a bid in early 2014
-- telling an audience in New Orleans that she wasn't even thinking about a run -- but grew less coy this year when she began to embrace the expectations around her.
No comments:
Post a Comment