Updated at 4.30pm
HILLARY CLINTON IS just one day into her presidential campaign and already the opposition are getting their digs in.
Clinton yesterday announced her candidacy after much speculation and will be in Iowa and New Hampshire today to start drumming up votes.
There was a surge of support from Democrats but her announcement also sparked a fierce Republican response. The Republican National Committee said Clinton “has left a trail of secrecy, scandal and failed policies that can’t be erased from voters’ minds”.
“We must do better than Hillary,” tweeted former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, a likely Republican opponent, foreshadowing the intense back-and-forth expected to play out on social media in the run-up to the November 2016 election.
While the latest entrant to the race – Senator Marco Rubio, also of Florida – told supporters today the felt Clinton was a ”a leader from yesterday”.
Senator Rand Paul, who announced last week he is running for president, released what is perhaps the first attack ad of the 2016 cycle, saying Clinton “represents the worst of the Washington machine: the arrogance of power, corruption and coverup, conflicts of interest and failed leadership with tragic consequences.”
2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney told Fox News on Sunday that Clinton is “not trustworthy”.
He referred to a revelation in March that she had run all of her emails as Secretary of State through a private server in her New York home. When State Department officials asked for copies of her government related emails late last year, her staff judged half to be personal and erased them.
“This whole story about her having erased all of her e-mails even though they were subject to recall and review by Congress, I think that’s made people remember that with the Clintons it’s always something,” he said.
And I think also the fact that she’s been there a long time. She’s a creature of Washington. … I think people want to see change, want to see something new and Hillary Clinton is just not that person.
New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio was keeping his cards close to his chest, holding back on any endorsement until he sees “an actual vision” of what she wants to do.
“I think she’s a tremendous public servant. I think she’s one of the most qualified people to ever run for this office, and, by the way, thoroughly vetted. We can say that. But we need to see the substance.”
Many opponents have also been pointing out that Clinton is tied to the Obama administration and its failures, as the current President’s approval ratings dwindle.
If her announcement video is anything to go by, it looks as though the Democratic candidate is trying to present herself as a new Hillary Clinton but these opponents are not going to let her forget where she’s come from.
Meanwhile, Rubio – adding his name to the list of Rebublican hopefuls – told top donors he was running for the nomination because the 2016 race for the White House should be about the future, not the past.
The first-term Republican from Florida, 43, also told his most generous backers that he feels “uniquely qualified” to pitch his party as one that will defend the American Dream.
Rubio spoke on a conference call with donors before a flashy political rally set for tonight in Miami.
A first-generation immigrant whose parents fled Cuba, Rubio could make history as the nation’s first Hispanic president
- Additional reporting from AFP, AP and Daragh Brophy.
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