The wait is over. Hillary Clinton is running for president. As expected, she launched her campaign with a video: “Getting Started.” It’s the beginning of a campaign that could make history, marking the first time a woman gets a major party’s presidential nomination. But Clinton’s launch has a much simpler message: This campaign is about you, not me. To that end, Clinton only appears near the end of the video: “I’m getting ready to do something, too,” she says. “I’m running for president.”
A top adviser confirmed what everyone already knew about the former secretary of state’s 2016 plans in an email to the veterans of her first presidential campaign.
“I wanted to make sure you heard it from me—it’s official: Hillary’s running for president,” John Podesta wrote in the email. “She is hitting the road to Iowa to start talking directly with voters. There will be a formal kickoff event next month and we look forward to seeing you there.”
The day before her bid was made official, Clinton’s team issued a mission statement, describing that the goal of the campaign was to give “every family, every small business and every American a path to lasting prosperity.” Robby Mook, who was yet to be named Clinton’s campaign manager on Saturday wrote: “This campaign is not about Hillary Clinton and not about us—it’s about the everyday Americans who are trying to build a better life for themselves and their families.”
The one-page document includes eight “guiding principles” that seem designed to try to prevent the infighting and disagreement among top staffers that crippled Clinton’s campaign last time around, notes Politico.
“We are a team: we are committed to helping each other succeed to deliver on our core purpose,” notes one of the guiding principles. The other guiding principles of the campaign, according to the memo that was published in full by Bloomberg:
*We are a diverse, talented family: we work together, empower and respect each other, and have each other’s backs, especially our volunteers.
*We are disciplined: driven every day by strategy, not tactics or one offs. We know there will be tough days, but we will bounce back and get back to work. We take risks, always measuring with empirical data to establish best practices.
*We are humble: we take nothing for granted, we are never afraid to lose, we always out-compete and fight for every vote we can win. We know this campaign will be won on the ground, in states.
*We know the importance of having fun: we are all here because we want to work hard for a cause we believe in.
* We are open to a diverse range of views: When we disagree, it’s never personal. Once a decision is made, we execute it—together.
*We are responsible: we always remember and appreciate the generosity of millions of people who invest their time and resources in Hillary Clinton and in us.
*We are guided by Hillary’s bedrock values of hard work, service, fairness, and faith in the American Dream.
Meanwhile, the crowded group of Republican presidential hopefuls wasted no time on Sunday, hitting at Clinton before she even officially announced her campaign launch. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush posted a video that hit at Clinton’s ties to President Obama.
He was hardly alone. Sen. Rand Paul of Kenutcky, who launched his bid last week, launched his first television ad on Sunday that called the former secretary of state the “worst of the Washington machine.” “Hillary Clinton represents the worst of the Washington machine,” the narrator says. “The arrogance of power, corruption, and cover-up, conflicts of interest and failed leadership with tragic consequences.”
