It's official. She's running. Will you vote for her?

Clinton: 'I'm in to Win' White House


Associated Press



NEW YORK (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton launched a trailblazing campaign for the White House on Saturday, a former first lady turned political powerhouse intent on becoming the first female president. "I'm in, and I'm in to win," she said.
In a videotaped message posted on her Web site, Clinton said she was eager to start a dialogue with voters about challenges she hoped to tackle as president - affordable health care, deficit reduction and bringing the "right" end to the Iraq war.
"I'm not just starting a campaign, though, I'm beginning a conversation with you, with America," she said. "Let's talk. Let's chat. The conversation in Washington has been just a little one-sided lately, don't you think?"
Clinton's announcement, while widely anticipated, was nonetheless an historic moment in a fast-developing campaign that has already seen the emergence of a formidable black contender, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Since joining the field, Obama has secured the backing of a number of prominent fundraisers, including billionaire philanthropist George Soros, stepping up the pressure on Clinton to disclose her plans.
In an instant, Clinton became the most credible female candidate ever to seek the presidency and the first presidential spouse to attempt to return to the White House in her own right. Her husband, Bill, served two terms as president from 1993 to 2001.
"I am one of the millions of women who have waited all their lives to see the first woman sworn in as president of the United States - and now we have our best opportunity to see that dream fulfilled," said Ellen Malcolm, president of EMILY's list, which raises money for Democratic women who run for office.
With her immense star power, vast network of supporters and donors and seasoned team of political advisers, the 59-year-old Clinton long has topped every national poll of potential Democratic contenders.
But her controversial tenure as first lady left her a deeply polarizing figure among voters, leading many Democrats to doubt Clinton's viability in a general election.
In a detailed statement posted on her Web site, Clinton sought to acknowledge and bat away such doubts.
"I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine," she wrote. "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."
Recently, Clinton has clashed with many in her own party over the Iraq war.
Clinton supported the 2002 resolution authorizing military intervention in Iraq. She has refused to recant her vote or call for a deadline for the removal of troops. She has announced her opposition to President Bush's troop increase in Iraq and has introduced legislation capping troop levels.
"A woman candidate could find it easier to run in peacetime, rather than wartime, but Senator Clinton's tried to position herself as a serious person on national security," said Andrew Polsky, a presidential historian at Hunter College. "But that means she's staked out difficult position on the war that won't make it easy for her to get Democratic nomination."
With a $14 million campaign treasury, Clinton starts with an impressive fundraising advantage over the rest of the Democratic field. But Obama and others have started to secure fundraising commitments from New York, California and other deep-pocketed, Clinton-friendly areas.
Her creation of a presidential exploratory committee, announced Saturday, allows her to raise money for the campaign; she already has lined up campaign staff.
In tone and substance, Clintons' videotaped announcement recalled her first Senate race in New York in 2000, where she conducted a "listening tour" of the state's 62 counties before formally entering the contest.
She promised a three-day series of Web chats with voters beginning Monday and prepared a campaign swing late this coming week through the early voting state of Iowa, while a visit to New Hampshire was in the works.
On Sunday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was also set to enter the Democratic field; if elected, he would be the first Hispanic president.
For the short term at least, the outsized candidacies of Clinton and Obama were expected to soak up the lion's share of attention.
Obama, who launched his own presidential committee on Tuesday, praised Clinton as a friend and colleague.
"I welcome her and all the candidates, not as competitors, but as allies in the work of getting our country back on track," he said in a statement.
Other Democratic contenders include former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd; Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the party's 2004 vice-presidential nominee. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden has said he will run and planned to formalize his intentions soon. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the party's 2004 standard bearer, is also contemplating another run.
An influential player in her husband's political career in Arkansas, Hillary Clinton leapt to the national scene during the 1992 presidential campaign when husband and wife fought to survive the scandal over Gennifer Flowers' allegations of a lengthy affair with Bill Clinton when he was the state's governor.
The Clintons appeared together on CBS' "60 Minutes" to talk about their marriage - Hillary Clinton's first famous "Stand by Your Man" moment.
As first lady, Clinton headed up a disastrous first-term effort to overhaul the health care insurance system. There was more controversy as the couple battled allegations of impropriety over land deals and fundraising, missing records from her former Arkansas law firm and even her quick and hefty profits from an investment in cattle futures.
There was no letup in the second term. The president found himself denying - then admitting - having a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. As he battled impeachment and possible removal from office, his wife's poll numbers rose.
Her own political career began to take shape in late 1998 when New York Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan announced he would not seek re-election to the Senate seat he had held since 1976.
The campaign trail was not always friendly. For almost every cheer, there was a shouted "Go home, Hillary!" and the emerging Republican theme that carpetbagger Clinton simply wanted to use New York as a launching pad for a later presidential run.
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My initial reaction is... can we not get someone other than a Bush or a Clinton to run for office anymore? I mean really WTF. We might as well be a monarchy.

May god have mercy on our souls if she wins.

I told my mom, I hope my dad makes an appointment to see God and talk him into making sure Hillary loses big time. He (my dad) will spin in his grave if she wins.

If she does win, we are in for all hell to break loose. She will pull out of Iraq immediatly, which will cause the largest terrorist attack in history, far outweighing the World Trade Center/Pentagon, the Dow will plummet, taxes will go through the roof, and the heterosexual white man will be in big trouble as he will be descriminated against on everything and have no defense. Hillary will sign legislation to guarantee that.

STOP HER NOW AND FOREVER BY NOT SUPPORTING HER. YOUR LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anderson, you might consider thinking before you make yourself look like a foul. Everyone knows that Clinton will not cause another 9/11 or the stock markets to crash. Fear tactics don't work anymore. I honestly do not see President Clinton 2 being much different than Clinton 1. She has something to prove, which means she will most likely stick with being more moderate on issues, especially Iraq.

With that said, I will not be supporting her in the primary. I feel the Democratic party (and Republican as well) has many better candidates to offer other than Clinton.

who's your pick, soonerliberal? -M

I have no problem with a female president (or a Black on or a Hispanic one for that matter), but not Hillary. Ugh. I'd vote for Geena Davis' "Commander in Chief" character in a heartbeat.

My vote will go to John McCain.

Oh MY HECK. I will not be voting for Clinton. There is no way no how... NO NO NO. Now with that being said, oh no. I cant go there!!

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"You can't fix stupid it's foreverrrrrrrrr!!" Ron White

NO!

I am with John Edwards and/or Bill Richardson at this point.

Actually of the Democrats that are out there right now Clinton is the only one that is giving speeches supporting the war and saying we need to stay in Iraq.

No way in hell would I vote for Hillary...I have not yet made a decision but I know it wont be Billary...I mean HillBilleray...you get the point.

I seriously doubt when it comes down to marking with a pencil, touching a screen or poking a chad, that Hillary would win. Or, any other female candidate the first or maybe even second go around.

The media has been preparing us for it in the last few years. I think if it hadn't been for several shows and/or movies portraying a female president we probably couldn't even fathom it.

Now that we can, there will be much press about it and it will seem she has a ton of momentum and then reality will slap the voters in the face and she will not win. However, that will set the stage for making it a reality in future races.

I think the same goes for a black candidate and, God help us, an Obama for president.

We have "9-11" every year. That is a date, not an event. Mark my words. We will be in the worst times this world has ever seen if the b**** wins.

Laugh if you want. I usually have the last laugh. I just hope and pray I do not have to prove myself right again.

If she would have ran before 9/11 she may have had a better chance...Now...No way all the old codgers would vote in a woman in these times

Definitely could be worse people to land in the white house, but I'm leaning toward McCain at the moment

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Dr. Spaceman: Now Jenna, medically speaking for your height your weight puts you what we call the "disgusting" range. Fortunately there are solutions. For example, crystal meth has been shown to be very effective. How important is tooth retention to you?

I agree - as a Democrat, I would never vote for Hilary. For different reasons than some - I feel Hilary is a hawk of the worst sort and has flip-flopped way too much.

Edwards is my number 1, with Richardson right behind.

If Hilary should make it through the primary, (doubtful), then I'll have to either not vote at all or look at an independent.

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Unions - the folks who brought you weekends!
Proud Army Mom

Sooner Liberal....Please dont tell me you are one of the far left loons that thinks Bush had anything to do with what happened on September 11th, 2001. I dont even think Hippy Hillary would claim that. Also, when was it that stock markets crashed? 1929? 1980 something...no in the 2000's. If you call a substantical dip in the market that actually rebounded pretty quickly, after the worst act of terrorism on the US since Pearl Harbor, if you call that a crash, then you need to rethink your strategies.

And as you say, clinton 2 wouldnt be much different than clinton 1, focused on non-bi partisanship, bashing bush and sleeping with an intern (except shes too ugly for the latter to happen).

The only part i agree with is that both parties have better candidates.

Bali,

I agree mostly with what you said. I will say this. I would not vote for hillary if my life depended on it, but if i was a democrat, i would consider Obama. I feel as though he is a good candidate for them. Now, i will say this. The one guy i feel has a shot to win for the liberals would be Edwards. I dont particularly disagree with most things this guy has to say except the obvious left wing ideals.

WOW, I AGREE. I GET SO TIRED OF "9-11" BEING CATORGORIZED AS A STINKIN EVENT.

I'm just glad that in all likelihood the NeoCons will never be elected to office again after the total disaster that has been the last 6 years.

McCain I don't know what to make of. I liked him a lot about 2 years ago. Then he started going a bit NeoCon, then this last year he has been flipping and spinning quite a bit. I just don't know what to make of him right now.

That is going to be McCain's biggest problem besides his age. The man has had more positions on the issues than John Kerry, and that's saying something! Plus, he has been wooing the Jerry Falwells out there after publicly detesting them for years and years.

I think he has the Kerry problem of saying whatever he thinks it takes for him to get elected.

I will be voting for Barack Obama. The guy can talk a bird out of a tree, and I think his oratory skills will help in a lot of ways where Bush has fallen short. If you haven't heard the guy speak, he's incredibly intelligent and knows the issues well. I personally, think it's time for a black president.

So, what's wrong with Obama for president? The guy can actually identify with most of us. He came from a broken home, and pulled himself up to where he's at today.

Very true. You never know where McCain is going to stand on an issue. Sometimes I'm not even sure what party he is with. He made it clear in the 2004 election, when he lashed out at Bush, that he was not with the majority of Republicans.

The way it looks right now in the polls, it will be Rudy against Hillary.

Rudy is "worse" than McCain. Or should I say, "better."

Rudy and McCain are both moderate Republicans, the kinds of politicians who are going to be more likely to please the American people as a whole once their in office.

McCain is more electable than Rudy. But don't think for a moment that Rudy is a liberal, just because he isn't a staunch conservative. In fact, the only place that I happen to disagree with him on is on abortion, aside from that ...

And McCain is the author of the best border policy in my opinion ... the one that Bush supports for the most part, and the one that most Republicans call unpatriotic, for the most part. But McCain is more electable than any other Republican in the United States right now.

I like Mitt Romney for the most part, but he just isn't the guys I've been hoping would run for a long time. Now that both of those guys are going to be running, I'm happy enough as it is. I would be ecstatic to see Giuliani as president and McCain as VP, and vice versa. And I don't really see either men picking another person to serve as their running mate. They are easily the most publicized moderate politicians in America today, and they would mesh well.

I would like to see an end to abortion one of these days, though.

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I'm just your typical OKC enthusiast..that's not always "enthusiastic."

If so get ready to see a huge jump in your taxes as all us taxpayers will get to enjoy paying to raise these kids born into difficult situations

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Dr. Spaceman: Now Jenna, medically speaking for your height your weight puts you what we call the "disgusting" range. Fortunately there are solutions. For example, crystal meth has been shown to be very effective. How important is tooth retention to you?