Clinton throws her hat in the ring for US presidency
HILLARY Clinton has finally confirmed her bid for the US presidency, announcing that she was embarking on a second run for the White House in a video released yesterday.
“Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion,” she said in the video, which was posted on her new campaign website. “So you can do more than just get by, you can get ahead. And stay ahead.”
Clinton, who lost a bruising Democratic nominating battle to Barack Obama in 2008, said in a tweet that she would be travelling to Iowa, the state that holds the kickoff contest in the parties’ nominating process in early 2016.
Her campaign will emphasise her plans to address economic inequality and will tout the historic nature of her effort to become the first woman US president, aides said.
Critics, including liberals in her own party, say she has grown out of touch after decades as the wife of former President Bill Clinton, a US senator and secretary of state.
To address that, Clinton’s website and the announcement video feature Americans talking about their futures, and an image of her holding a paper coffee cup at a table with a couple of elderly people.
Clinton is then seen listening to voters before the video cuts to her speaking outside a home. “I’m getting ready to do something too, I’m running for president,” she says,
Clinton is the first Democrat to confirm that they will run for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination.
She looks likely to face competition from former senator Jim Webb, and two former state governors, Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee.
Two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, have formally announced their bids already, while several others have expressed an interest, including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, brother to former President George W Bush. Up to nine other Republican party members are reported to be considering running.