Clinton to announce 2016 bid Sunday

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Hillary Rodham Clinton will end months of speculation and launch her highly anticipated 2016 presidential campaign Sunday, skipping a flashy kickoff rally in favor of conversations with voters about the economic needs of middle-class families and the next generation.

Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state who lost the 2008 nomination to Barack Obama, will begin this time by courting voters in living rooms and cafes in early voting states. If victorious in 2016, she would become the nation’s first female president.

The first official word of her candidacy will come in a video posted on social media and to supporters online, according to two people familiar with her plans. She then will turn to states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, looking to connect directly with voters in small, intimate settings.

The people familiar with her plans spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Clinton has offered glimpses in recent speeches of why she will again seek the White House. Another preview came Friday in the epilogue to the paperback version of her 2014 book, “Hard Choices.”

“Becoming a grandmother has made me think deeply about the responsibility we all share as stewards of the world we inherit and will one day pass on,” Clinton writes in the new chapter, according to a preview published by The Huffington Post. “Rather than make me want to slow down, it has spurred me to speed up.”

The Sunday announcement will mark Clinton’s formal return to politics after a two-year leave from government.