Announcement Sends Race Into High Gear
Announcement Sends Race Into High Gear
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s entry into the 2008 presidential contest yesterday set off rounds of e-mail messages and conference calls among both her allies and opponents, some of whom were shaking their heads that a major political event was happening early on a Saturday morning.
Advisers to some of her top 2008 rivals — Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts — replied within minutes to requests for comment, and signaled that the Clinton announcement meant that the 2008 race was truly under way.
“She’s tough enough, smart enough and experienced enough to overcome a decidedly liberal philosophy,” said John Weaver, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, who is preparing to seek the Republican presidential nomination.
“The Clinton, Obama, Edwards chain match will be hard to avert my eyes from, speaking as a pure spectator, of course,” Mr. Weaver added, referring to former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. (At least four other Democrats are preparing to campaign as well.)
Clinton advisers said that they chose Jan. 20 as the target date for an announcement during a meeting in mid-December, and that Mrs. Clinton was “raring to go” on Friday.
“I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine,” Mrs. Clinton said in announcing the formation of a presidential exploratory committee on her Web site, HillaryClinton.com. “After nearly $70 million spent against my campaigns in New York and two landslide wins, I can say I know how Washington Republicans think, how they operate, and how to beat them.”
The advisers said she wanted to announce yesterday so that she would dominate the weekend news and Sunday talk shows, and to demonstrate a contrast in leadership with President Bush as he prepares for his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.
Next weekend, she plans to campaign across Iowa, the site of the first presidential caucuses in January 2008, and visit the early primary state of New Hampshire soon after.
Mrs. Clinton appears at the head of the Democratic pack in many national polls, yet she is in a tighter spot in some voter surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, which begin the presidential nominating process. Recent polls show Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards doing well in those states.
“She has not spent as much time in those state as in others, but this is a woman who is not a stranger for hard work, and who is prepared to go out and work hard for every vote,” said one Clinton adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to openly acknowledge that she was running behind to anyone.
Other than Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards, the 2008 Democratic field at this stage also includes Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut; former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa; and Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio. An eighth possible candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, was expected to declare today that he is forming an exploratory committee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/politics/21clinton.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s entry into the 2008 presidential contest yesterday set off rounds of e-mail messages and conference calls among both her allies and opponents, some of whom were shaking their heads that a major political event was happening early on a Saturday morning.
Advisers to some of her top 2008 rivals — Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts — replied within minutes to requests for comment, and signaled that the Clinton announcement meant that the 2008 race was truly under way.
“She’s tough enough, smart enough and experienced enough to overcome a decidedly liberal philosophy,” said John Weaver, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain, who is preparing to seek the Republican presidential nomination.
“The Clinton, Obama, Edwards chain match will be hard to avert my eyes from, speaking as a pure spectator, of course,” Mr. Weaver added, referring to former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. (At least four other Democrats are preparing to campaign as well.)
Clinton advisers said that they chose Jan. 20 as the target date for an announcement during a meeting in mid-December, and that Mrs. Clinton was “raring to go” on Friday.
“I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine,” Mrs. Clinton said in announcing the formation of a presidential exploratory committee on her Web site, HillaryClinton.com. “After nearly $70 million spent against my campaigns in New York and two landslide wins, I can say I know how Washington Republicans think, how they operate, and how to beat them.”
The advisers said she wanted to announce yesterday so that she would dominate the weekend news and Sunday talk shows, and to demonstrate a contrast in leadership with President Bush as he prepares for his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.
Next weekend, she plans to campaign across Iowa, the site of the first presidential caucuses in January 2008, and visit the early primary state of New Hampshire soon after.
Mrs. Clinton appears at the head of the Democratic pack in many national polls, yet she is in a tighter spot in some voter surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, which begin the presidential nominating process. Recent polls show Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards doing well in those states.
“She has not spent as much time in those state as in others, but this is a woman who is not a stranger for hard work, and who is prepared to go out and work hard for every vote,” said one Clinton adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to openly acknowledge that she was running behind to anyone.
Other than Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards, the 2008 Democratic field at this stage also includes Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut; former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa; and Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio. An eighth possible candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, was expected to declare today that he is forming an exploratory committee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/us/politics/21clinton.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
posted by presgore19 at 4:20 PM
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