WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) Hillary Clinton didnt mention her potential Republican rivals in her presidential campaign kickoff. But they were quick to bash her after she announced her second bid for the White House.
Rand Paul put Clinton at the center of his first TV ad, titled Liberty, not Hillary, writes the Associated Press. Scott Walker fired off a series of tweets describing the former first lady as having a Washington-knows-best mentality. Jeb Bush derided the Obama-Clinton foreign policy in a video. And South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: The middle class is getting screwed by the administrations domestic agenda & I believe it would be more of the same with Clinton.
Clinton, meanwhile, headed for Iowa after announcing her White House run. She faces five questions as she heads there, writes the Des Moines Register, including: Will Clinton engage in a real battle with fellow Democrats? Activists interviewed by the Register proclaimed joy that former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb appear on the cusp of presidential bids. They also hope Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders will run, partly to pull Clinton to the left.
Environmental activists for Warren: Count climate activists among those whod like to see Elizabeth Warren run for the White House. They are lining up behind what National Journal calls the never-say-die campaign to draft her for a 2016 bid. The group Ready for Warren plans to soon unveil Environmental Activists for Warren, the latest sign that environmentalists fear Hillary Clinton wont take a strong stand on the issues they care most about.
Team Rubios thinking: Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is set to launch his presidential campaign later Monday. Heres what a Rubio confidant told National Journal: Jeb [Bush] is the clear front-runner, [Scott] Walker is a not-quite-very-close second, and were a strong third. Rubio, the confidant said, has to have the patience to let Walker stumble, as people with no national experience usually do, and be agile to take advantage of the opening.
Tea-party roots: Rubio, Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have one big thing in common, writes The Wall Street Journal: Each rose to power with support from the tea-party movement. Now those three, who all beat establishment-backed candidates in Senate primaries, will be competing for the loyalty of voters from that movement as they seek the Republican presidential nomination. This spate of candidates with tea-party roots and aspirations is a sign of how the Republican Party has been shaped by an anti-establishment movement that has emerged over the last six years.
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Capitol Report: Republican field piles on Clinton after campaign launch