Hillary Clinton is officially in.
No surprise there, as she’s been in — sans official announcement — for at least the last year.
What was surprising is how artful and wonderful her two-minute, 15-second announcement on Sunday was, with more about how people — ordinary people — are getting ready to move ahead in their lives and less about the yawning and all-to-often empty assertions most politicians spew.
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Clinton was on camera speaking for less than 73 seconds. Even during that time, she still talked about us more than about herself.
“I’m getting ready to do something, too. I’m running for president. Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times. But the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion, so you can do more than just get by. You can get ahead and stay ahead. Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote, because it’s your time. And I hope you’ll join me on this journey.”
That’s 36 words about her, and 56 about us.
That says plenty about her platform and about her run for the presidency this time.
But already, the pundits are stuck on other stuff: Her logo has a red arrow pointing to the right. Could that mean she’s leaning more conservative, asks CNN Money. Way to talk about something unimportant, folks.
A blog pundit for NPR became obsessed with why her maiden name Rodham was left out. Actually, she never said her name at all in the announcement. She didn’t have to. We know who she is, and again, it was more about us than her.
As Paul Krugman, of the New York Times, points out in his newest column, we’re heading into a long, long 18 months of campaign ads and media spinning.
That said, however, it’s good that Hillary Clinton is at last officially in the fray. Again.
She is no carbon copy, no rubber stamp, no ditto for anyone — and certainly not for her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
As a first lady, she overcame the expected exile to the White House residency where she would occasionally be freed to temporarily talk about baking cookies or visiting garden parties. Instead, she helped shaped our nation’s future policies long before she became the only first lady elected to the United States Senate.
Later she became chief diplomat and Secretary of State under the president who defeated her in her first bid to become the leader of the free world and the primary occupant of the Oval Office.
This time, she’s back in the race again to follow those same go-her-own-way, trail-blazing instincts. And a basic one seems to be this: Making this run about America’s ordinary citizens and steering American politics more toward meeting the needs of the middle class instead of the top 1 percent.
She enters the race with strong support: In February, 81 percent of Democrats said they would consider voting for her, according to a CBS News poll. That far out distances her potential rivals for the Democratic nomination, including former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont who could run as a Democrat, according to the New York Times.
As for her announced GOP competitors — Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul — and her unannounced ones like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, she’s far more prepared, far smarter and far more in touch with us, the real people.
We welcome her to the race. Again, and finally.