“For People, for a Change.” “It’s Time to Change America.” “Clinton for President.” If it wasn't for the fact that this column was typed on a personal laptop and the fact that it’s being read on the Internet — not to mention my ability to fully articulate what I need — I’d think we were back in 1992 when “the other Clinton” — as people will soon refer to Bill — was first making his run for office.
It came as no shock to the American people when Hillary Clinton — in a desperate bid to appeal to the ever growing voting majority of millennials — announced her candidacy and intentions to run (yet again) for the highest office of the land on the social media outlet of Twitter this past Sunday.
What Hillary has done differently than the two candidates who announced before her — and the candidate who announced the day after her — was instead of getting on a large stage to hold a press conference and rally, she simply used 122 characters to announce.
I'm running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. –H https://t.co/w8Hoe1pbtC
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 12, 2015
This way of announcing her intentions has instantly set her apart from the herd, but not necessarily in a good way. This could be seen as arrogant, thinking she doesn’t need the the large publicity and copious interviews to further her campaign. While she has instantly set herself apart from the Republican candidates with her announcement, she also continues to further separate herself by being media silent.
Unlike Hillary, Rubio, Paul and Cruz have gone to the airways to discuss their intentions as president, to announce their platforms. Meanwhile, Hillary is busy manufacturing “incognito” trips to Ohio Chipotles in an attempt to show the “average” citizen she, too, fine dines at the local eateries. Too bad for her, not a single person noticed her. It took the Chipotle store manager reviewing the security footage to even realize who she was.
Not once since her announcement was posted has she gone to the mass media air waves to give her viewpoints and ideas for the future. We don’t know what she stands for or why she’s even running. So far, it seems as though Hillary is running this campaign purely on name recognition. The Clinton branded name is known all over the place, and it seems to this columnist, she’s banking on the hope people will vote for her purely based on her name.
Aside from her lack of a publicly televised discussion of her campaign platform, she truly doesn’t have the experience or accolades to serve as President. What has she done? She served as First Lady for eight years with the only memorable part being her trip to China where she gave one speech on women’s rights. Then she went on to serve as a senator from New York. Then she want on to a horribly mediocre job as Secretary of State ending in her resignation after the Benghazi scandal.
Her track record sounds an awful lot like the current progress the character Mellie Grant is taking in the ABC drama, "Scandal." The difference being, we actually get to hear the, albeit scripted, dialogue of the fictional First Lady pleading with her fictional presidential husband about how she “wants a turn” at being president. However, I think we can all imagine a similar conversation between then POTUS Bill and FLOTUS Hillary.
One bright star to the Twitter announcement was the immediate reaction of the Twitter-verse. Almost instantly the leading trending hashtag was #WhyImNotVotingHillary. With many people spouting off reasons to not vote for Hillary, it was curious to watch the trending hashtag vanish and mysteriously be replaced as the No. 1 trending hashtag with #Hillary2016.
However, instead of listing reasons why to not vote for Hillary, the right should instead be listing reasons to vote for their candidates. Economic prosperity and free markets, reducing government intervention and returning rights back to the individuals and to the states, these are all reasons #WhyImVotingRed.
Reach the columnist at derrik.rochwalik@asu.edu or follow @drochwalik on Twitter
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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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