Hillary camp: It’s not about us

Hillary Clinton’s rollout in Iowa is designed to tamp down her political celebrity and forge a connection with average Americans, senior campaign aides said Monday.

“It isn’t about her; it isn’t about us,” an aide said during a conference call with reporters.

{mosads}“It’s about everyday Iowans, their hopes their dreams and what they want in the future.”

Clinton confirmed her presidential ambitions with a video released Sunday afternoon that immediately placed that theme on display. 

The former secretary of State didn’t even appear in the video until more than a minute in, as her team instead chose to highlight stories from a number of typical Americans. 

The campaign will eschew a big announcement speech that’s typical of many presidential bids, as Clinton’s star power and her previous bid for president assures that voters know her. But her plans show a focus on forging relationships in more intimate settings and downplaying that celebrity in the process.

She’ll first head to a roundtable on Tuesday at the Kirkwood Community College in Monticello, a town of just 3,800 people. Then, she’ll meet with small business leaders at a small produce company in Norwalk, a city with a population of less than 10,000.

“We understand one thing: We understand that you have to earn this and that this is a long process that we are going to take very seriously,” an aide said.

“She is going to fight for every single vote, every single caucus-goer in Iowa,” another added.

An aide described Clinton as “excited, energized and anxious” ahead of the trip. She hit the road for Iowa in a van Sunday afternoon in another effort to buttress her reputation as political royalty.

Her immediate focus on Iowa shows she wants to combat any questions about her strength in the state, which holds the first presidential nominating contest. She lost the 2008 Iowa caucuses to then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a loss that upended the dynamics of that race and cut at the narrative that she was unbeatable.  

This time, she comes to the state in a significantly stronger position than in 2008. Clinton holds a commanding lead over the prospective Democratic field, up more than 40 percentage points over Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who’s repeatedly said she would not run.

Back in late March of 2007, Clinton trailed then Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) by 2 percentage points, according to a Real Clear Politics roundup of polling.