Podesta sends email to Hillary 2008 alumni announcing she is in — first official announcement from the campaign. pic.twitter.com/AsOEw6Z33T
— Jesse Berney (@jesseberney) April 12, 2015
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid was announced on Twitter, but probably not how the campaign was expecting. Hillary 2008 alumni Jesse Berney tweeted a screenshot of an email sent by Hillary for America Chairman John Podesta alerting 2008 alumni that Hillary was running for President and that there would be an alumni conference call later today. Berney’s email screenshot was retweeted and shared as confirmation that Clinton would be running for President.
Minutes later, Hillary made it official herself. The long-awaited introductory video was released. It features a diverse group of people talking about how they are planning to do various activities and they are preparing for the future. A bit more than halfway into the video, Hillary appears and announces that she will be running for President. She says that she wants to be a “champion” for “everyday Americans.” Then she says she is “hitting the road to earn your vote.” A common criticism of Hillary’s 2008 campaign was that she came off as entitled, expecting to win the nomination and the general election. Now, she is emphasizing other Americans and winning their votes.
HillaryClinton.Com has been relaunched for the Hillary for America campaign. It is fairly bare-bones at the moment, with a link to a bio, the introductory video, and social media. There are five states listed under the States tab– Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, and New York. The first four are also the first four primary and caucus states and New York is where her campaign is headquartered.
The campaign has said that Hillary will start campaigning in May. They said the long wait is because of her collecting stories from across the country. This is in contrast to other candidates, who typically immediately launch on an announcement tour to the early states after their campaign announcement.
Watch the video: