It's official: Hillary Clinton announces Senate candidacy

February 6, 2000
Web posted at: 9:16 p.m. EST (0216 GMT)

PURCHASE, New York (CNN) -- With her husband among the crowd of cheering supporters, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton officially launched her first foray into elective politics on Sunday, announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate from New York.

"I am honored today to announce my candidacy to the United States Senate from New York," Clinton told 2,000 supporters at the State University of New York at Purchase.

"I may be new to the neighborhood, but I'm not new to your concerns," she said, citing the need for improved public education, health care and economic development.

President Clinton, daughter Chelsea and the first lady's mother, Dorothy Rodham, joined her for the announcement. President Clinton helped his wife write the speech but did not speak during the event.

"I'm a new Democrat," Clinton said in her announcement speech. "I don't believe government is the source of all our problems or the solution to them, but I do believe that when people live up to their responsibilities, we ought live up to ours."

Her bid for the seat being vacated by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-New York, promises to be a rough-and-tumble contest against Rudolph Giuliani, the Republican mayor of New York

"I've had some experience with that, too," said Clinton, citing her mixed experiences fighting for teacher testing in Arkansas in the 1980s and universal health care during the first term of the Clinton administration.

Giuliani hit the television talk show circuit on Sunday. He said that administration controversies involving Mrs. Clinton, such as Whitewater scandal, would be "fair game" during the campaign.

'Hey, this is New York'

The first lady told the crowd she was ready for nine months of intense campaigning.

"I know it's not going to be an easy campaign, but 'Hey, this is New York,'" she jokingly said, mimicking an Italian accent.

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, a Hollywood television producer and friend of the Clintons, created a 15-minute biographical film that introduced Mrs. Clinton and cited her accomplishments as a lawyer and an advocate for children's and women's issues.

Her remarks were also preceded by tributes from Moynihan and other leading New York Democrats, including Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem.

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Reminiscing about his 47 years in New York politics, Moynihan compared Mrs. Clinton to another first lady resident of the Empire State, Eleanor Roosevelt.

"Eleanor Roosevelt would love you," Moynihan told the first lady as she took the podium.

Roosevelt stayed involved in politics after she left the White House in 1945. She served on the boards of several liberal and civil rights groups and was appointed to the first U.S. delegation to the United Nations before she died in 1963.

Democrats defend first lady's New York credentials

Sunday's announcement ends one of the worst-kept secrets in national politics.

Last July, Mrs. Clinton announced she would embark on an extensive "listening tour" of the Empire State, from Manhattan to the far reaches of upstate New York.

The first lady told a teachers' union conference on November 23 that she would declare her candidacy in a matter of weeks, but not before she settled into a $1.7 million house in suburban Westchester County in early January to meet residency requirements.

She has come under intense scrutiny from the New York press and voters, many of whom have expressed some amount of wariness about why a native of Chicago, who has lived most of her adult life in Arkansas and Washington, would want to take up residence in the Empire State.

"How is it that the Democratic Party can't come up with a candidate for the Senate from the state of New York? What does that say about the Democratic Party?" Giuliani told CBS' Face the Nation.

Rangel, who appeared on stage with a dozen members of the state's Democratic congressional delegation, dismissed such arguments.

"When you need the best person for the job, you don't ask where they come from, you ask: 'Are you available to serve?' "

Schumer also went to great lengths to address the residency issue during his opening remarks.

"Hillary Clinton has already been to nearly every part of the state and has talked to business and labor, economic and education leaders in each place. She will be ready on day one to make upstate New York a jobs magnet, Schumer said.

"I can't wait for the team of Chuck and Hillary to be senators together ... it's going to be a great team starting in January 2001," he added.

Suburban vote key factor

Location was a likely factor in Clinton's decision to make her announcement in Purchase, just a short car ride from her new home in Chappaqua.

"When duck hunting, one goes where the ducks are," Republican consultant Jay Severin said. "The independent suburban ducks are the ducks in this campaign that are yet to be bagged."

Recent surveys have shown Giuliani with a slight overall lead over Clinton. But a Marist College poll released Friday showed the New York mayor with a huge lead among suburban voters, 56 percent to 34 percent.

Giuliani has not yet announced his intention to run for the open seat, but rumors have swirled about his plans for nearly 18 months -- before anyone suggested Mrs. Clinton would be a viable Democratic candidate.

As of the end of the year, Clinton had raised $8 million and Giuliani, who started fund-raising three months earlier, had raised almost $12 million. It is expected to be the most expensive Senate race in the nation's history, and possibly the nastiest.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.