HILLARY CLINTON FORMALLY launches her bid to become America’s first woman president today – months after she actually declared she was running.
The former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State is in New York for her first big campaign rally, where she will outline a progressive vision for the future.
Thousands of supporters are set to throng Roosevelt Island – a tiny sliver of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.
Hillary is expected to be joined by husband Bill and daughter Chelsea in the family’s first joint appearance of the campaign.
Her team sees the rally, on home turf in a state where Clinton was senator for eight years, as a chance to turn the tables on flagging opinion polls and position her as the champion of America’s squeezed middle class.
“Everyone deserves a chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. That’s the dream we share. That’s the fight we must wage,” she said, in a new video.
My dad, the son of a factory worker, could start a small business, my mom, who never got to go to college, could see her daughter go to college.
The video looks back on Clinton’s four-decade career in public service and seeks to counter growing concerns that the grandmother with a millionaire lifestyle is out of touch.
A CNN poll found last week a growing number of Americans say she is not honest and trustworthy (57 percent, up from 49 percent in March).
“Everyday Americans and their families need a champion, a champion who will fight for them every single day and I want to be that champion,” Hillary said.
She announced she was definitely running back in April – declaring on Twitter, and following up with a video and email announcement.
Reporting AFP/Daragh Brophy.
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