--- title: Hillary Clinton’s Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability description: Few presidential candidates have been as far ahead as Hillary Clinton at this stage, but that can hurt her too canonical: https://time.com/3774585/hillary-clintons-main-obstacle-her-own-inevitability/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-10T14:04:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T13:30:00.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton’s Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability og:description: She's far ahead of the competition, but that can be a bad thing too. og:url: https://time.com/3774585/hillary-clintons-main-obstacle-her-own-inevitability/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt281756c504d377f7/6987ea7e2dce018f5f9e13f3/hillary-clinton2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes part in a Center for American Progress roundtable discussion on "Expanding Opportunities in America's Urban Areas" in Washington on March 23, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton’s Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability twitter:description: She's far ahead of the competition, but that can be a bad thing too. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt281756c504d377f7/6987ea7e2dce018f5f9e13f3/hillary-clinton2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton’s Main Obstacle: Her Own Inevitability > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments [Watch (HLS stream): Hillary Clinton's Top 10 Political Moments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/L3I0gpwt.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2015-04-09. Watch the top 10 moments from Hillary Clinton's career in politics._ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:30 PM UTCPublished: Apr 10, 2015 2:04 PM UTC  Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes part in a Center for American Progress roundtable discussion on "Expanding Opportunities in America's Urban Areas" in Washington on March 23, 2015. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes part in a Center for American Progress roundtable discussion on "Expanding Opportunities in America's Urban Areas" in Washington on March 23, 2015. Brooks Kraft—Corbis by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:30 PM UTCPublished: Apr 10, 2015 2:04 PM UTC Hillary Clinton made her first pitch for the 2016 election standing in front of an American flag in Iowa the size of a local barn. An ebullient crowd of more than 5,000 Democrats was gathered for Iowa Senator Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry last September, hay bales, pumpkins and barbecue abounded. “It is true,” Clinton said, coyly, of the rumors about her candidacy, “I am thinking about it.” The audience roared. “It’s really great to be back,” she went on. “Let’s not let another seven years go by.” Seven months later, Clinton is packing her bags and returning to Iowa, and this time there won’t be any coyness about her ambitions. Clinton announced her campaign on Sunday with a [video message](http://time.com/3818768/hillary-clinton-white-house-bid-2016-election/) on social media. Next, she’ll head back to the first-in-the-nation caucus state as the Democratic front-runner by a country mile, with sizable leads against most of her potential Republican opponents. She’s still a seasoned politician with a deep network of donors and allies and a well-funded apparatus of grassroots groups eager for her to enter the race. But nothing goes smoothly on the road to the White House, a lesson she learned the hard way in her failed bid to secure the Democratic nomination in 2008\. In the long 15 months before the Democratic National Convention, Clinton could face a rising threat from the progressive wing of her party in the form of polished former Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland or deeply liberal Senator Bernie Sanders. Though both are still long shots, they could force her to compete for support from the liberal base, potentially hurting her chances in the general election. Even after the primary, Clinton still faces uncertainty on the campaign trail. Her longtime coziness in the ritzy Washington-to–Wall Street Acela corridor could drive away many voters, and her Republican opposition researchers are already spending millions to dig up unsavory crumbs from her past as fodder for negative television ads. Above all, however, Hillary Clinton will struggle against the inevitability of her own campaign, the messianic pull of an office that has long eluded her and could once again be out of reach. “Inevitability as a message is a bad message, especially when it becomes clear you’re not as inevitable as you thought you were,” says Anita Dunn, Democratic strategist and former senior campaign adviser to President Obama. Clinton, however, “has learned that nothing in politics is inevitable.” Compared with other nominees in the Democratic field, Clinton certainly looks inevitable. O’Malley is polling at 1% and Sanders is at 4% compared with Clinton’s 66%. She also holds a remarkable lead over her likely GOP opponents, beating out former Florida governor Jeb Bush 54% to 40% in a matchup, and with even larger margins over Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Though her favorability dropped over the past month after the controversy over her private email account, she still commands a solid approval rating among voters. No candidate in recent memory has faced such a wide-open field on the opposing side. Part of Clinton’s appeal comes from her exhaustive knowledge of Washington institutions. It would be hard to name another politician who has her varied experience. She’s been in the White House (as First Lady), a legislator (as Senator from New York) and a top diplomat (as Secretary of State). She’s visited at least 112 countries, helped broker peace agreements and sponsored more than 400 bills in her eight-year Senate tenure. [Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson](http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/13/technology/yahoo-ceo-out/) couldn’t fake a résumé that sparkles like that. But polls aren’t destiny, as Clinton learned the hard way in 2007\. It will be easy for her to fall into the same traps she did running against Barack Obama eight years ago, when her campaign seemingly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. This time, she will have to fight like an underdog if she wants to win the presidency. Dissatisfaction is already brewing among some Iowa progressives. Clinton has yet to court Hawkeye voters this year, even while O’Malley and Sanders have both made extensive tours in the state. It was Iowa, after all, that put Clinton on the road to defeat in 2008, when Barack Obama campaigned heavily and won the loyalty of heartland progressives. If Iowa voters again view Clinton as indifferent, she could embolden a progressive challenger. ### See Hillary Clinton's Evolution in 20 Photos  Teenager: Hillary Rodham poses in her 1965 senior class portrait from Park Ridge East High School in Illinois. AP  Law School Student: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham pose for a snapshot at Yale Law School in 1972\. They married in 1975. Clinton Presidential Library  Mother: Clinton poses with her husband, Bill, then in his first term as governor, with their week-old daughter, Chelsea, on March 5, 1980. Donald R. Broyles—AP  Campaign Companion: Clinton celebrates her husband's victory in a Democratic runoff in Little Rock, Ark. on June 8, 1982. AP  Arkansas First Lady: Clinton is seen in her inaugural ball gown in 1985. A. Lynn—AP  Political Wife: Clinton celebrates her husband's inauguration in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1991. Danny Johnston—AP  Dignitary: Clinton receives an honorary law degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., on May 30, 1992. Chris Ocken—AP  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a meeting during the presidential campaign for her husband in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1992. Bill Sikes—AP  First Lady: Clinton appears at the MTV Inauguration Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 20, 1993. Shayna Brennan—AP  Second-Term First Lady: Clinton attends the Inaugural Ball after her husband was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 1997. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  New York Senator: Clinton speaks at a press conference with female Democratic senators in Washington on June 21, 2006. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Committee Member: Clinton listens to the testimony of Lt. General David Petraeus to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a hearing on Capital Hill in Washington on Jan. 23, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Candidate: Clinton holds a a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., while running for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 2, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 2, 2008. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Secretary of State: Clinton kisses President Obama at a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton joins Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 3, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013. J. Scott Applewhite—AP  Author: Clinton attends a signing memoir, "Hard Choices," at a Costco in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Grandmother: Clinton holds her granddaughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Sept. 27, 2014. Office of President Clinton/AP  Once and Future Candidate: Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis And while Clinton’s experience makes her a promising leader to her acolytes, many voters view her as a cozy Washington insider, a Westchester elite in bed with New York banks and D.C. lobbyists. And though she is known among close friends and family to be to be warm and loving, Clinton has had trouble connecting with voters on the campaign trail. In 2008, after a tough loss in the Iowa primary, Clinton showed voters a more personal side. Her challenge is to make voters see her as a confidante and a listener from the get-go. Assuming Clinton wins the nomination, she’ll face a battle-tested Republican opponent who will be in tip-top shape to take on the Democrats. But supporters argue that even without a major primary fight, she’ll be ready too. “She’s going to be challenged every single day from two sides: by a strong field of GOP competitors, and the media,” says Ben LaBolt, a Democratic strategist who was a press secretary on President Obama’s re-election campaign. “Through that, she’ll be plenty battle ready.” **_Read next:_**[_Five Other Women Who Ran for President_](http://time.com/3771209) ## Transcript You know, I'm not sittin' here some little woman standing here by my man like Tammy Wynette. I'm sittin' here because I love him, and I respect him. Now is our chance to beat the historical odds, and give the American people the health security they need. If there is one message that echoes forth from this. Let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights once and for all. The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right- wing conspiracy that has been conspiring. Against my husband since the day he announced for president. I would be happy to, when you give me the signed letters. Well, right here. Right here. When you give me. Right here. Sign it right now. We'll shake. We'll shake on this, Ray. No, no, I want your signature, cause I think that everybody wants to see you signing something that you said you were for. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don't wanna see us fall backwards. Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. The battle to stop Al Qaeda and its affiliates. Does not end with one death. What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. 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