America
US presidential race: Hillary Clinton Vs the rest
US
presidential race: Hillary Clinton Vs the rest
By Arun
Kumar
Washington, April 15 The US presidential race took off with Hillary
Clinton finally jumping into the fray with an aura of inevitability, but that
analysts suggested may turn out to be the former secretary of state's biggest
handicap.
In her second bid to break the glass ceiling and return to the White House, the
former first lady chose a low key video message on social media to announce her
run Sunday before heading to Iowa, the state which traditionally kicks off the
primaries.
The first official event of her 2016 presidential campaign was a roundtable
discussion with four students and three educators in an automotive technology
classroom at a community college. There she declared her desire to "begin
a conversation" with Americans on how she could "be the champion who
goes to bat for Americans."
Low key or not, Clinton's entry has electrified the somewhat somnolent
presidential race and generated media attention far and wide, including India,
with which she has a long history going back to her first visit as first lady
in 1995, unlike any other candidate.
As Alyssa Ayres, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a recent
blog post "First and foremost, she sees India as a crucial part of US
strategy in a world increasingly centred on Asia, where, in her words, 'the
future of politics will be decided.'"
"As secretary of state her focus on rebalancing US foreign policy toward
Asia contained a strong emphasis on expanding ties with India, " she
noted.
Within her own Democratic Party, Clinton is miles ahead of her likely rivals -
none of whom have officially declared their intention to run.
According to Time magazine former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is polling
at 1 percent and liberal Senator Bernie Sanders is at 4 percent compared with
Clinton's 66 percent.
"Though both are still long shots, they could force her to compete for
support from the liberal base, potentially hurting her chances in the general
election," it said.
Among the Republicans, she leads former Florida governor Jeb Bush 54 percent to
40 percent in a matchup and with even larger margins over Texas Senator Ted
Cruz, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Time
said.
Louisiana's Indian-American governor Bobby Jindal is still toying with the idea
of a presidential run.
But potential Republican candidates lost no time attacking Clinton leaving
criticism of likely primary rivals within the party for another day.
Rubio, 43, the youngest contender in the race so far, took a swipe at Clinton
Monday.
"Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday," he said as cited by CNN,
as the crowd erupted in boos, "began a campaign for President by promising
to take us back to yesterday. But yesterday is over, and we are never going
back."
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul released a video ad critical of Clinton hours before
she officially declared her candidacy Sunday saying she "represents the
worst of the Washington machine, the arrogance of power, corruption and
cover-up".
Cruz, another official 2016 GOP candidate, questioned her success as secretary
of state saying "Hillary Clinton represents the failed policies of the
past".
Bush turned the Clinton debut into a fundraising opportunity telling his
supporters in an email that "Hillary plans to raise $1.7 billion to win
the White House ... which is why I'm asking you to give $5 right now" to
"stop her."
With hardly any opposition worth the name, Clinton may easily win the
Democratic primary, but "she'll face a battle-tested Republican opponent
who will be in tip-top shape to take on the Democrats," Time suggested.
However, her "supporters argue that even without a major primary fight,
she'll be ready too," it said