(Bloomberg News) Hillary Clinton will make her long-anticipated second run for the presidency official Sunday afternoon.
A source with knowledge of the campaign's plans confirmed the timing to Bloomberg. The announcement, which will be on a video delivered via social media, comes one day after the Clinton campaign team gathered Saturday in Brooklyn for a prelaunch pep-talk from campaign manager Robby Mook. He discussed the “purpose and values” that will define the operation, which will be known as Hillary for America.
In a memo shared with attendees—who are technically volunteers until the campaign formally launches—Mook describes the “purpose,” “goal,” and “guiding principles” of Clinton's imminent campaign, in terms that stand in stark relief to how Clinton's 2008 run panned out.
The campaign’s purpose is “to give every family, every small business, and every American a path to lasting prosperity,” according to the document, which was obtained by Bloomberg following an initial report by Politico. (The full text of the memo is included below.)
Clinton’s 2008 campaign became a battle of egos from the candidate on down, a reality that ultimately undermined her message of trying to improve Americans’ lives and the country's standing around the world. But this time, the memo says, the “campaign is not about Hillary Clinton and not about us—it’s about the everyday Americans who are trying to build a better life for themselves and their families.”
The message was Mook’s idea, according a Democratic operative who was at the meeting. It includes input from a wide range of Clinton advisers, including top strategist Nebulousl Benenson, ad-man Roy Spence, and longtime aide Huma Abedin.
The one-page document also includes eight “guiding principles” that stress teamwork, diversity, discipline, and “the importance of having fun.”
We are a team: we are committed to helping each other succeed to deliver on our core purpose,” the memo says, hinting at a key 2008 weakness.
It continues:
We are a diverse, talented family: we work together, empower and respect each other, and have each other’s backs, especially our volunteers.
Mook drew on many of the values that have been most important in the winning campaigns that he has led, including being disciplined and “driven every day by strategy, not tactics or one offs.”
“We know there will be tough days, but we will bounce back and get back to work,” the memo continues. “We take risks, always measuring with empirical data to establish best practices.”
Finally, “we are guided by Hillary’s bedrock values of hard work, service, fairness, and faith in the American Dream.”