Main article: Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, 2008
On
January 20,
2007, Clinton announced on her website the formation of a Presidential exploratory committee to run for President in the 2008 Presidential election, with her statement beginning: "I'm in. And I'm in to win."
[69] No woman has ever been nominated for President of the United States by a major party. Clinton's 2008 campaign has been the subject of media speculation for years.
[70] Clinton has already assembled an experienced team of advisers and operatives, including
Patti Solis-Doyle, who is expected to become the first Latina to manage a presidential campaign
[71];
Mike Henry, who managed
Tim Kaine's successful 2005 Virginia gubernatorial campaign and then coordinated Democrats' 2006 Senatorial advertising efforts;
Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesperson, a veteran of New York politics; and
Evelyn S. Lieberman, who worked for the first lady in the White House and then served as Deputy White House chief of staff and is expected to be the campaign's chief operating officer.
[72] For much of 2007,
nationwide polls placed her well ahead of other potential Democratic presidential candidates and most pundits, as of November 2006, considered her the presumptive front-runner for the nomination.
[73][74][75][76] By the time of her announcement, Senator
Barack Obama and former Senator
John Edwards were polling strongly in some early caucus and primary states
[77], but Clinton still retained a strong lead among Democrats nationally
[78].
Speculation of a presidential bid and her senate profile helped place Clinton in the rankings for the world's most powerful people by
Forbes magazine
[79] and
Time magazine's
Time 100. At the same time, Clinton has often been referred to as one of the most
polarizing figures in American politics.
[80] [81] [82]
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