It’s official! Hillary is running for president
HILLARY Clinton will try to crack the ‘highest and hardest glass ceiling’ when she attempts to become the first woman in the White House.
The former First Lady yesterday announced her second bid for the US presidency, ending months of speculation.
The news came in a series of emails and was quickly followed by the release of a video on social media in which the Democrat said she wants to be America’s ‘champion’.
The short film depicts US families – notably including same-sex couples – before Mrs Clinton herself appears on camera to confirm: ‘I’m running for president.’
Amid widespread predictions that she is the strongest contender to become the next US president, her daughter Chelsea wrote on Twitter last night: ‘Very proud of you Mom!’
The 67-year- old former secretary of state is now scheduled to fly from New York to Iowa, the first stop in a lightning tour of key battleground states.
Aides say she will focus on addressing rising economic inequality and the historic significance of a woman winning the race to the White House.
Barack Obama – who beat her to become the Democrat candidate in the 2008 election – said on Saturday she would make an ‘excellent president’. Mrs Clinton also already has the support of a string of celebrities including Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Barbra Streisand.
However, many analysts believe her biggest challenge will be overcoming the perception of her as cold and out of touch. On the US comedy show Saturday Night Live this weekend a come- dian lampooned the politician as remote, self-obsessed and power hungry in a spoof campaign video.
Many Left-wing Democrats fear Mrs Clinton will not take on Wall Street and the powerful corporations to tackle income inequality.
Insiders said Mrs Clinton – the first Democrat candidate to announce a bid for the 2016 election – will now be trying to show a more down-to-earth side.
Illinois senator Rand Paul is among the contenders for the Republican nomination.
Mrs Clinton’s launch website shows her with a paper coffee cup talking to some senior citizens around a bare table. She barely features in an accompanying video message on YouTube that shows ordinary people in their homes and gardens.
But the carefully-crafted message, in which she declared ‘everyday Americans need a champion – I want to be that champion’ was followed by ringing endorsements from political figures around the world.
‘Good Luck @Hillary Clinton,’ wrote France’s socialist prime minister Manuel Valls on Twitter. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat, wrote a lengthy and fulsome good luck note in daily newspaper Bild, complete with strong praise for Mrs Clinton’s ability to deal with pressing world issues.
‘I congratulate her on her decision to run for America and I wish her success,’ he wrote, reminiscing about his time working with the politician, who was US secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. ‘Hillary Clinton ... has also proven she has sure instincts in world crises – from Afghanistan to the Middle East,’ he wrote. ‘She knows Europe and understands our way of thinking.
‘With Hillary Clinton, there is a woman running who is a master of the craft of politics like few other people. Above all in foreign affairs.’
Washington believes its ‘special relationship’ with Britain is declining and needs to be reassessed. A report by the Congressional Research Service blames UK defence cuts and warns that the our influence could diminish even further if the economic recovery runs out of steam.
It also acknowledges the widespread perception that President Obama has been ‘lukewarm’ towards Britain.