Clinton sets her sights on White House in 2016
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HILLARY Clinton’s presidential campaign will center on boosting economic security while casting her as a “tenacious fighter” able to get results, her advisers said yesterday.
The former first lady, US senator and secretary of state planned to make her 2016 effort official with an online video and small events with residents of Iowa and other early-voting states over the days ahead.
If Clinton’s strategy sounds familiar, it might be because President Barack Obama framed the choice for voters in 2012 as between Democrats focused on the middle class and Republicans wanting to protect the wealthy and return to policies that led to the Great Recession.
Clinton intends to sell herself as being able to work with Congress, businesses and world leaders, the advisers said. That approach could be perceived as a critique of Obama, who has largely been unable to fulfill his pledge to end Washington’s intense partisanship and found much of his presidency stymied by gridlock with Congress.
Clinton will enter the race as the overwhelming favorite for her party’s nomination. Still, her team has said her early strategy is designed to avoid appearing to take that nomination for granted. She will contend with Republicans in Congress who are investigating her use of a private e-mail account and server during her four-year tenure as secretary of state.
By campaigning heavily in the early-voting states, which influence the rest of the state-by-state battle for party nominations, Clinton hopes to avoid making the same stumbles she did in 2008, when she entered the race as a US senator and a heavy favorite only to be upset by Barack Obama in Iowa’s lead-off caucuses.
Obama told reporters on Saturday in Panama City that he thinks Clinton “would be an excellent president.”
Should she win the nomination, Clinton would face the winner of a crowded Republican primary field that could feature as many as two dozen candidates. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the brother and son of former presidents, is likely to run, setting up a potential Clinton-Bush showdown if he manages to win the Republican nomination.
Republican Senator Rand Paul, a favorite among libertarians, and Ted Cruz, a champion of the conservative tea party movement, have already entered the Republican race. Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is expected to announce his bid to be the first Hispanic president today.
In New York on Saturday, at the final event put on by “Ready for Hillary,” a group not connected with her campaign that’s worked for the past few years to stoke excitement for it, enthusiastic supporters joined elected officials and local party leaders to celebrate the launch.
Republicans tried to link Clinton to Obama, a regular focus of Republican criticism.
“We must do better than the Obama-Clinton foreign policy that has damaged relationships with our allies and emboldened our enemies,” Jeb Bush said yesterday.
Paul pointed to the Clinton family’s foundation, saying it was hypocritical for the Clintons to accept money from Saudi Arabia, which places restrictions on female movement and activity.
Clinton is not expected to roll out detailed policy positions in the first weeks of her campaign. Advisers said she planned to talk about ways families can increase take-home pay, the importance of early childhood education and making higher education more affordable.
Bill Clinton said recently that he wanted to play a role as a “backstage adviser.”
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