So Hillary is in. Campaign lore says that your announcement is the best day you have in a presidential campaign. All the rest is downhill until you win or lose.
And what else happens today that will be right next to her announcement in every major newspaper tomorrow? 13 soldiers killed in a helicopter crash. The Internet already reflects that reality:
As Kerry was haunted by his 2002 vote to authorize the war in the 2004 campaign, Hillary Clinton will be haunted by this war every single day. Obama said in 2002 that the war wasn’t the right thing to do, and while many anti-war bloggers haven’t made much of the fact, at least some have.
The war in Iraq and the events on the ground are constantly driving the Bush presidency. No matter how much he tries, he can’t escape it. Given how close 41 and 42 have become, it’s more than a little ironic that those same events will be driving her campaign for the presidency. Days like today are just a hint of what she will have to face every day of the primary, until she wins or drops out.
Her announcement, in addition to being curtailed by Sen. Brownback’s, gives the impression that the date and timing was not of her own design but the result of outside factors (read Obama). While today’s Saturday announcement would have yielded headlines for tomorrow, every mention will contain more than minor mentions of fellow contenders. Additionally, rumor has it that Gov. Richardson will also announce tomorrow on This Week further deflating her explosive proclamation of “I’m in.”