It finally happened. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Sunday she is running for President.
The announcement kicked off a campaign that has been years in the making, and made her the first and so far only major Democrat to enter the 2016 race. Recent polls have shown her leading her potential GOP rivals in a general election match-up.
The announcement was made at first in an email to donors and supporters by John Podesta, the chairman for Clinton’s 2016 campaign. The email was followed by the launch of a website and a video of Clinton talking about her campaign.
Clinton didn’t appear in the video until more than halfway through. Instead, the video started with Americans talking about what they’re getting ready for. Then Clinton appeared, saying “I’m getting ready to do something, too. I’m running for President.”
“Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top,” Clinton said. “Everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion.”
Watch the video below:
Podesta’s email, first reported by Buzzfeed’s Ruby Cramer, came ahead of Clinton’s announcement over social media.
“She’s in,” Podesta wrote in the email to donors. He added Clinton is “hitting the road to Iowa starting directly with voters. There will be a formal kickoff event next month, and we look forward to seeing you there.”
Clinton plans to travel to a series of “intimate” campaign events with small groups of people in New Hampshire and Iowa which is supposed to be the early reintroduction to voters.
The day before the announcement, Robby Mook, the Clinton 2016 campaign manager, shared a memo with staff and attendees at a prelaunch event in the campaign’s Brooklyn office. The memo emphasized the disciplined, low-drama campaign Clinton and top aides hope to run in 2016.
Read the memo, via Bloomberg Politics, below:
We Are Hillary for America
Our purpose: To give every family, every small business, and every American a path to lasting prosperity by electing Hillary Clinton the next President of the United States. This campaign is not about Hillary Clinton and not about us—it’s about the everyday Americans who are trying to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Our goal: For Hillary Clinton to earn a winning number of delegates to secure the Democratic nomination and win 270 electoral votes to become the 45th President of the United States.
Our guiding principles:
*We are a team: we are committed to helping each other succeed to deliver on our core purpose.
*We are a diverse, talented family: we work together, empower and respect each other, and have each other’s backs, especially our volunteers.
*We are disciplined: driven every day by strategy, not tactics or one offs. We know there will be tough days, but we will bounce back and get back to work. We take risks, always measuring with empirical data to establish best practices.
*We are humble: we take nothing for granted, we are never afraid to lose, we always out-compete and fight for every vote we can win. We know this campaign will be won on the ground, in states.
*We know the importance of having fun: we are all here because we want to work hard for a cause we believe in.
* We are open to a diverse range of views: When we disagree, it’s never personal. Once a decision is made, we execute it—together.
*We are responsible: we always remember and appreciate the generosity of millions of people who invest their time and resources in Hillary Clinton and in us.
*We are guided by Hillary’s bedrock values of hard work, service, fairness, and faith in the American Dream.
