Hillary Clinton Running For President In 2016
Published at
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Hillary Clinton is running for president in 2016.
She announced her candidacy in a video posted to YouTube. The video shows real Americans getting ready for new challenges — spring gardening, children beginning schooling, adults moving or applying for jobs — as well as Clinton discussing the challenges she will take on in a presidential campaign. Specifically, the video focuses on the middle class.
“I’m running for president,” Clinton said in the message, which was also posted to her new campaign website on Sunday. “Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion.”
I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. –H https://t.co/w8Hoe1pbtC
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 12, 2015
Clinton also announced that her first post-announcement trip would be to Iowa.
I’m hitting the trail to earn your vote. Headed to Iowa. –H http://t.co/Mut4vOMxm0
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 12, 2015
An email sent to donors by a top aide minutes before the video was posted confirmed that the former Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady will run for president in 2016.
“I wanted to make sure you heard it first from me – it’s official: Hillary’s running for president,” likely campaign chairman John Podesta wrote in the message.
Much of the next two months will be a “ramp up” period for the Clinton campaign. She’ll travel around the country building a grassroots organization and engaging directly with voters. In May, she will hold her first rally and deliver the speech that will kick of her campaign in earnest.
The former secretary of state’s announcement marks Clinton’s second attempt to win the White House and become the first woman president of the United States.
In recent months, Clinton has worked behind-the-scenes to begin building a robust campaign apparatus, hiring a wide range of people, including many of President Obama’s former advisers and strategists, for top positions in her campaign.
An office building in the Brooklyn borough of New York City will serve as the campaign headquarters. Clinton’s staff gathered there on Saturday to talk campaign strategy and messaging.
A memo from Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, and obtained by ABC News, outlined the campaign’s guiding principles — and offer a clear message: Unlike Clinton’s 2008 campaign, this one aims to be drama free.
“We are open to a diverse range of views,” Mook wrote. “When we disagree, it’s never personal. Once a decision is made, we execute it — together.”
Allies and Adversaries
Clinton enters the race as the clear frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Over the past two years, pro-Democratic groups like Ready for Hillary and Emily’s List have been working on her behalf to raise money, support and enthusiasm for her.
At this early stage in the campaign, Clinton also holds a clear lead over her potential Republican rivals. A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll showed Clinton ahead of potential GOP candidate Jeb Bush by a 54 to 40 percent margin in a potential match-up, with even bigger leads against Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Scott Walker, and Sen. Marco Rubio, who plans to announce on Monday whether he will launch his own White House bid.
Challenges Ahead
Despite Clinton’s advantages, she has a challenging road ahead.
As a candidate, Clinton will also be expected to answer looming questions that have dogged her over the past few years, including her use of a personal e-mail account as secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of money from foreign governments, and her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya.
Clinton has also suffered a significant drop in her favorability rating since leaving the State Department. The early April ABC News-Washington Post poll showed Clinton with a 49 percent favorability rating — down nearly 20 points from her all-time high of 67 percent two years ago.
Family Matters
After her defeat at the hands of Obama in 2008, Clinton repeatedly said “no” when asked whether she would ever seek the presidency again.
But in a newly-released epilogue to her memoir, Hard Choices, Clinton, 67, indicated her new role as a grandmother may have influenced her decision to run.
“Rather than make me want to slow down,” she wrote. “It has spurred me to speed up.”
ABC Breaking US News | US News Videos
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.