Sen. Marco Rubio and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially announce run
CANDIDATES vying to be the next US president are coming forward.
Hillary Rodham Clinton – former secretary of state, senator and first lady – formally launched her campaign on Sunday, April 12 through an online viral video posted on YouTube. The announcement marks Clinton’s second run for the presidency.
“I’m running for president,” Clinton said with a smile in the video released Sunday afternoon. “Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion. So I’m hitting the road to earn your vote—because it’s your time.” The video features several middle-class American families, signifying a major theme in her upcoming campaign.
If Clinton is chosen as the Democratic frontrunner, it will be the first time a woman secures a major party’s nomination.
The next morning on Monday, April 13 Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio first announced his bid for the party nomination via a conference call with campaign donors. “The race for the White House should be about the future, not the past,” Rubio, 43, told his supporters.
He is the third Republican to officially announce a presidential campaign, joining Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
So far, Clinton is the only Democrat who has officially announced her bid, but former Senator Jim Webb and Governors Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee are also favored to run.
Both new candidates have shown promise, experts say.
Along with youth, Rubio has a compelling personal narrative, as the son of Cuban exiles with deep roots in his Florida home. Many critics, however, believe he lacks the proper support to carry through to the election.
“He’s a follower, peddling the same tired Republican playbook,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. “Marco Rubio has pandered to the Republican base throughout his whole career.”
Rubio has consistently polled in the middle of the GOP primary pack, trailing fellow Floridian Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and even conservative Sen. Cruz.
“I do think he’s going to try to reach the American people in a way that tells a story of a very different, optimistic, prospective vision for America, that isn’t just the doom and gloom that we tend to get an awful lot of the time on our side,” said Florida GOP strategist Rick Wilson. “I think that [Rubio] has a certain fluency, and ability to connect with voters, and this will be one of the first times a wider audience has seen it.”
Clinton is making her first trip as a candidate to Iowa and New Hampshire, attending critical campaign events in order to reintroduce herself to voters and begin to lay out the central theme of her candidacy: improving middle class economics, increasing wages, and reducing income inequality. She vows to be the champion of “everyday” American families, “because where families are strong, America is strong,” she said.
“Being the first woman to run for president with a real chance of winning, that’s a wild card, but potentially a net positive, particularly for undecided women,” said Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center.
A CBS News poll conducted in February showed Clinton’s strong base of support through more than 30 years in public life. 81 percent of Democrats said they would consider voting for her, significantly more than her potential rivals for the nomination.
Nevertheless, the 67-year-old Clinton faces many hurdles in her run. With her recent State Department email address controversy and other questionable acts, her team is working on a smoother campaign rollout in the crucial coming months, aiming to avoid mistakes of her past presidential run.
Learning from 2008, Clinton’s aides hinted that Clinton will present herself as more humble and in-touch with the lives of ordinary Americans, in an attempt to shed the politically weight that comes with her name.
“Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top…I want to be that champion so you can do more than just get by, so you can get ahead and stay ahead,” she said in the viral video.
Rubio, meanwhile, has already outlined specific policy proposals both on foreign and domestic issues. On his first day as an official candidate, he was slated to return to Washington to join a Senate hearing on a proposed deal with Iran on its nuclear ambitions.
His campaign is centered more on being the “fresh face” in the White House, representing a new, hardworking generation of leadership—as opposed to Hillary Clinton, a long-time familiar figure in government. He could also make history as the nation’s first Hispanic president.
“The Republican Party, for the first time in a long time, has a chance in this election to be the party of the future,” Rubio told his donors. “We heard from a leader from yesterday who wants to take us back to yesterday, but I feel that this country has always been about tomorrow.”
Rubio’s speech Monday night at the Freedom Tower in Miami highlighted his vision for America with a robust foreign policy and promised to overhaul the tax code and immigration laws, as well as repeal Obamacare. He invoked the struggles and successes of his immigrant parents, noting how far they have come and how far they still have to go to achieve their American dream.
“This election is not just about what laws we will pass,” he said. “It is a generational choice about the kind of country we will be.”
Now with three Republicans officially announced in the 2016 race, the GOP’s field of nominees could keep expanding, as well as candidates for the Democratic seat.
At her first formal meeting at a community college in Iowa, Hillary Clinton laid out the early keystones of her presidential campaign, casting herself as a “champion” for struggling Americans, and embracing “the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday;” good-government policies from liberal Democrats. She promised a simpler, less expensive election by forgoing the glitzy celebrity fundraisers and high-profile rallies, instead aiming to focus on local community issues at smaller events.
“I think it’s fair to say that as you look across the country the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top,” Clinton said. “There’s something wrong with that. We’ve got to figure out in our country how to get back on the right track.”
Fil-Ams react to presidential bid announcements
In March, members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community gathered in Downtown LA to support Clinton ahead of her formal announcement.
“We need Hillary Clinton in the White House,” said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus at the event. “But how are we going to make this happen? We can only make it happen if the grassroots is activated, if the grassroots works hard in every sphere, in every corner of the United States.”
Since the announcements from Clinton and Rubio this week, Filipino-American community leaders and local groups have expressed their support for the different party candidates.
“Republicans have several candidates who will offer Filipino-Americans real and long-term economic and educational opportunities. Meanwhile, the Democrats only have one candidate whose candidacy is plagued by scandal and controversy, and Asian Americans are tired of the same failed policies that make it more difficult to achieve the American Dream,” said Ninio Fetalvo, the Asian Pacific American Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee.
Fil-Am Democrats have also voiced out. “Clinton will promote an agenda that provides the opportunity, support and tools Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders need to realize their potential,” said Irene Bueno, co-chair for the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Ready for Hillary, in a statement.
The former secretary of state’s candidacy will “address issues affecting Fil-Ams and other groups in the AAPI community,” including immigration reform, access to education, health care, housing and opportunity for entrepreneurs, she continued.
“We need [Clinton’s] vision, leadership, and dedication to public service, and our AAPI and Filipino community is part of that vision,” said Fil-Am Gene Benavides, a member of the Ready for Hillary National Finance Council.”
“Hillary will promote a smart agenda that will afford Filipino Americans and Asian Pacific Islanders the opportunity to realize their full potential and the realm of endless possibilities in America,” said Melissa Ramoso, California state chair for the Filipino American Democratic Caucus and Southern Vice Chair for the California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.
The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (Naffaa) National Chair Emeritus Loida Nicolas Lewis called on all eligible Fil-Ams to participate in next year’s elections.
“2016 is going to be very important,” said Lewis, according to the Inquirer. “Indeed, we can be the swing vote in states [like Virginia] where numbers are large.”
(With reports from Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, Inquirer)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek April 15-17, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)
