NEW YORK — Storm clouds loomed over New York City’s Roosevelt Island as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to officially announce her run for the Democratic nomination. Over a month after the campaign released a slick rollout video via Twitter in which Hillary announced, “I’m running for president,” she took to the stage again with the exact same message of being a champion for everyday Americans.
“You brought our country back, now it’s time, your time, to secure the gains and move ahead,” Clinton said at the rally held on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. “And you know what? America can’t succeed unless you succeed. That is why I am running for president of the United States. Here, on Roosevelt Island, I believe we have a continuing rendezvous with destiny.”
In a memo released four days before the launch, campaign manager Robby Mook explained that “she literally started from scratch” when the campaign first launched. But Clinton’s been preparing for this day since her first run at the nomination in 2008, with her supporters building up multiple Political Action Committees and “Ready for Hillary” organizing committees.
Clinton’s opening day rally was as difficult to access as it was to attend. Before entering the fairgrounds on the south tip of Roosevelt Island, supporters, staff and press alike passed through multiple security checkpoints and were led to different sections. A no-fly zone was put in place over Roosevelt Island the day of the event, and traffic was brought to a standstill.
The campaign kept the press segregated from the rest of the crowds, caged behind a metal fence. Staffers ensured that anyone with a press pass didn’t cross into the crowds or go near the stage unless they had special permission and were escorted by a Clinton staff member.
A group of anti-Hillary protesters with “Stop Hillary” t-shirts were barred from entering the fairground. Those who did make it into the rally were young, mostly Caucasian and very, enthusiastically, pro-Hillary.
Hillary’s supporters are willing to look past her past political difficulties and scandal.
“No matter what side you’re on, Democratic or Republican, you can’t deny the fact that she has more experience than any one else running,” said Cassandra Kinyon, a mother from Brooklyn who came to Saturday’s event with her husband and three young daughters. “I think the scandal that surrounds her in the media is petty. It’s petty, a store of controversy and drama, and I don’t care. I’m going to vote for her anyway.”
Alex Soberman is a New Yorker who has voted for Hillary Clinton every time her name has been on a ballot since 2006, and, nine years of politicking later, still puts high faith in her.
“They’re really not scandals; they’re minor things. She really hasn’t done anything any other politician hasn’t done. I understand that there are those out there who will dislike her no matter what she does,” Soberman said. “But you gotta rise above that stuff and look at the substance and the policy.”
Clinton laid out her stance on national issues more than she ever has before, focusing heavily on how she plans to reinvigorate the economy, bring green energy jobs to America, make college more affordable, make preschool available to all children and boost the rights of middle class workers.
Hillary mentioned her own mother, her child and grandchild, and gave an expansive list of what she called “family issues” that she plans to focus on, including raising the minimum wage, expanding women’s rights, championing LGBT rights, fixing immigration and solving unequal rates of incarceration.
Of her 45-minute speech, the former secretary of state only spent two minutes speaking on foreign policy, saying, “No other country on Earth is better equipped to meet threats from countries such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and China.” She quickly touched on her support for Israel and her readiness to stand up to terror networks like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
But Hillary glossed over the current global crises with: “We all know that in order to be strong in the world, though, we first have to be strong at home,” and shifted back to her national policies.
She had the very liberal crowd fully in her favor, as she admitted her faults and encouraged the crowd to help her fight the uphill battle for the nomination over the coming months.
“Along the way, I’ll just let you in on this little secret,” Clinton said. “I won’t get everything right. Lord knows I’ve made my share of mistakes.”
Hillary’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, joined her onstage at the end of the rally, along with her daughter Chelsea and son-in-law Matt, as the cheering throngs ushered her off stage and the girl-band pop music that had been playing all day in the park, resumed.
Clinton continues her launch in Iowa tomorrow, before spending two days in New Hampshire followed by short trips to South Carolina and Nevada.
