OXFORD, England — One of the candidates running to succeed Theresa May as British prime minister launched his campaign by saying “I’m in it to win it,” channeling Hillary Clinton’s slogan from her ill-fated 2008 campaign.
Michael Gove, the former education secretary, entered the race after a weekend dominated by revelations of past cocaine use. Bookmakers rank him in fourth place, far behind clear front-runner Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and foreign secretary.
At his launch on Monday, Gove, 51, made much of the seemingly hopeless causes he had taken on in the past only to emerge — in his account — victorious, including the campaign to leave the European Union.
“I’m in it to win it,” he said.
“I’ve been told in the past that I couldn’t succeed. I was told when I led the Leave campaign, ‘Do you know what? You’re only at 33% in the polls. You guys will tank. You’ll lose by a landslide.’
“And we won.”
Gove is one of 10 candidates vying to replace Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister.
At my campaign launch I showed that I’m in it to win it. I have been tested, not shied away from scrutiny, and now I’m ready to lead. #Gove4PM #ReadyToLead pic.twitter.com/pTNXEyzkJF
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) June 12, 2019
In 2007, Clinton tried to promote herself as an unstoppable candidate when she made her first campaign appearance at a lively rally in Des Moines, Iowa, where she announced, ”I’m running for president, and I’m in it to win it.”
It was part of a strategy designed to portray her as equipped and ready for the White House from day one.
Instead, she was beaten in the primaries by Barack Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois who started the race as an relatively unknown outsider.
