Clinton's Secret Is Out - Now It's Open Season
The Democrat will face an onslaught of attacks in this White House race, but there are risks for Republicans if they go
too far.
05:07, UK, Tuesday 14 April 2015
Greg Milam
US Correspondent
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One of the worst kept political secrets is out - now the hard work begins for Hillary Clinton.
The former First Lady and Secretary of State has officially
joined the race for the White House with pretty much no
opposition from within the Democrats.
But with official candidacy comes intense scrutiny - and
her Republican opponents have been arming themselves
for an 18-month assault on Mrs Clinton.
Every candidate for the White House has to fight a two-
track battle: trying to communicate their message to the
country while fending off negative stories and smears.
Will Bill Clinton be an ally or a liability in the coming campaign?
Mrs Clinton faces an onslaught on a number of fronts: her use of a private email server while
America's top diplomat, donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation, her role
in response to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, her close relationship with Wall
Street.
All of that - "scandals" that have filled hours of airtime - will become fodder for the attack ads in
what will be probably the most expensive election in history.
Video: Hillary Clinton In 90 Seconds
But Mrs Clinton knows the American public also will have some substantial and relevant
questions.
She will tackle one of those head-on in the early days of her campaign: meeting voters in key
states to counter the impression that she is aloof, secretive and out of touch with real Americans.
For a woman who has spent decades in the Governor's mansion in Arkansas, the White House,
the US senate and the State Department, she is the definition of a Washington insider.
Making a connection with the ordinary folk is important.
Her campaign will have learned the lessons from what Barack Obama's team did to them in 2008
and, as a result, social media outreach and fundraising will be front and centre.
A more sensitive issue for 67-year-old Mrs Clinton will be her age and health.
Republicans demonstrated when she was Secretary of State that they were not above questioning
if she was physically fit for office after she suffered a fall and a concussion.
But David Goodfriend, a former adviser in the Clinton White House, says Republicans need to be
careful with how they attack.
Video: Clinton Musical Goes Off-Broadway
He told Sky News: "If past is prologue the Republicans will overplay their hand and attack her
just a little too much and you will find American women rallying to her defence in overwhelming
numbers and that will push her over the top."
But Mrs Clinton knows her private life will become open season and that brings us to one of her
campaign's greatest potential strengths: the formidable election powerhouse that is Bill Clinton.
Her team knows they have to manage the former president carefully.
Some of his pronouncements on Mr Obama in 2008 were unhelpful, to say the least, but he still
connects with Americans like few other politicians.
The polls show Mrs Clinton ahead of all of her possible Republican challengers.
But the gap is closing and those Republicans will get match-fit in a bruising contest over the
next 12 months.
Though Mrs Clinton looks largely unchallenged for her party's nomination, she knows better than
most that being a certainty can be a dangerous place.