Hillary Clinton and 2016

In preparation for her official campaign launch rally tomorrow, the Hillary Clinton campaign released this five-minute biographical video:

Hillary Clinton has not yet released much in the way of specific policy ideas as an element of her 2016 presidential campaign. Given the relatively weak opposition to her in the primary, she’ll probably continue on that trajectory — rolling out ideas slowly and likely staying on the vaguer side of things. But if you’re interested in the thinking that animates her likely approach to governing, your best guide is to look at a summary statement released earlier this year by top wonks with close ties to the Clinton operation.

A 160-page white paper from a think tank titled “Report of the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity” is not exactly designed to set the world ablaze. But the timing and circumstance of its authorship in January make it the best guide to what Hillarynomics is likely to look like.

Right now, Hillary Clinton is the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. As you may recall, she was in a similar position eight years ago — and, after a long and bitter contest, she ended up losing.

There are several factors that, considered together, explain Clinton’s 2008 primary defeat: Barack Obama’s powerhouse fundraising, position on the Iraq war, appeal to black voters, and small-state organizing all helped him narrowly edge out a victory. Meanwhile, Clinton failed to dominate the fundraising or endorsement games, and she had long looked vulnerable in a key early state.

Hillary Clinton is unlikely to offer a meaningfully different domestic policy agenda than Barack Obama. But if you’re looking for an exception to the rule, look at K-12 education.

Obama has picked fights with teachers unions by promoting the Common Core, charter schools, and merit pay for teachers. Clinton has a better relationship with unions who either oppose those policies or are concerned about how they’re being implemented.

Hillary Clinton’s opening message: it’s not about me, it’s about you. The now-official presidential candidate launched her second campaign for the presidency with a two-minute, 18-second video featuring Americans of all stripes talking about their hopes for the future — and, in a subtle homage to the Ready for Hillary crowd, what they’re getting ready to do.

“I’m getting ready to do something, too. I’m running for president,” Clinton says toward the end of the video. “Everyday Americans need a champion. I want to be that champion.”

Hillary Clinton is trending on Twitter on Sunday, after she officially announced that she’s running for president in 2016.

But trending alongside Clinton is the name Eric Harris — a black man who was killed by police in Tulsa on April 2. The video of Harris’s death was released over the weekend, and appears to show Harris saying “I’m losing my breath” after being shot and a police officer replying, “F*** your breath.”

Clinton began her campaign in quite the historically commanding position for a non-incumbent — and in a far better position than she was in 2008. In polls of Democrats and among party elites, she was — and remains — the overwhelming choice, and to many, the only plausible choice.

Initially, it seemed that this advantage would let Clinton be one of the last candidates to start officially running, not one of the first — as she seemed to prefer. Clinton does not love the campaign trail, and was not eager to get back there. In her famous emotional moment just before the 2008 New Hampshire primary, she discussed, in part, how “tired” the grueling campaign had made her, and how “difficult” life “on the road” was.

Maureen Dowd, who re-revealed her bizarre fetish for savaging Hillary Clinton in this morning’s New York Times, used President Obama’s recent praise of his former Secretary of State — she’ll do well if she’s her “wonderful self” — to ask a variation on a favorite question of Clinton critics: “Which self is that?“

”Instead of a chilly, scripted, entitled policy wonk, as in 2008, Hillary plans to be a warm, spontaneous, scrappy fighter for average Americans. Instead of a woman campaigning like a man, as in 2008, she will try to stir crowds with the idea of being the first woman president. Instead of haughtily blowing off the press, as in 2008, she will make an effort to play nice.“Leaving aside the problematic yearning for a female candidate to be one-dimensional, the oft-repeated trope ignores the reality that we actually know a lot about who Clinton is, what she does and doesn’t stand for, and how she might approach the presidency. Like her or not, here are five things you can take to the bank about Hillary Clinton:

The typical presidential candidate explodes onto the national scene as something of an enigma. A Scott Walker or a Ted Cruz is well-known to political junkies but largely obscure to the average citizen. Even a candidate with high name recognition like Jeb Bush is trading on a family name, not on actual information people have about his past policies as governor of Florida. And since governors especially often don’t directly address many issues of national significance, there is a natural and correct yearning to know more.

When Hillary Clinton launches her campaign Sunday, she’ll do something no other plausible presidential candidate – including Clinton herself – has done before: she’ll run like a woman.

If she plays it right, it will be a feature, not a bug, of Hillary for President (2016 remix). The feminine motif will be fully integrated into her persona, her rhetoric, and her platform, according to interviews with a half-dozen sources close to Clinton.

Hillary Clinton is essentially running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination in 2016. Yes, Bernie Sanders is in the race. But he has so little support that his natural core constituency is pouring all its time and energy into trying to nudge Elizabeth Warren into the race. But she’s not running.

It’s a problem. A problem for the Democratic Party, a problem for the United States of America, and ultimately a problem for Hillary Clinton herself.