WASHINGTON — If a presidential run were a movie, the campaign announcement would be the red-carpet premiere — a highly orchestrated, old-school ritual infused with ego and bathed in Klieg lights.
On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Rand Paul will begin a classic launch: a speech in a hotel ballroom on his home turf of Kentucky followed by a fly-around tour of early primary and caucus states.
Next week, it’s Marco Rubio’s turn. The 43-year-old Florida senator and charismatic son of immigrants plans to declare himself a GOP candidate for president April 13 at Miami’s iconic Freedom Tower, which served as the first stop for Cuban exiles, before an enthusiastic crowd that embodies America’s ethnic mélange.
More than a dozen other likely candidates, including Democrat Hillary Clinton, are brainstorming how to create their own vivid and memorable kickoffs in coming weeks. The act of an announcement is rarely a surprise, but what a candidate says — and where and how they choose to say it — offers important clues to who they are, what kind of president they aspire to be and how they think they can win.
More than perhaps any other occasion, launch events are under the complete control of the campaign, and a strong start can do wonders in propelling a candidate in a positive direction. When he became the first official candidate last month, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke in the round to thousands of young Christians at Liberty University — encapsulating his intended campaign theme and his own life story in a single event. He soon vaulted to the top tier of the GOP race.
Things don’t always go so well
For his 2012 campaign announcement along the Hudson River, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and his handsome family strolled across a lawn like modern-day Camelot before he gave his speech, with the Statue of Liberty as his backdrop. But the audience on that windy morning had more journalists than cheering supporters, while the noise of airplane engines and a boat horn provided awkward interruptions. The episode became a metaphor for Huntsman’s ill-fated campaign.
But successful scenes can propel candidates and transform how voters view them. Such was the case on a frigid February morning in 2007, when Barack Obama began his historic campaign with a lofty speech on the grounds of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., that invoked memories of Abraham Lincoln.
Conservative icon Ronald Reagan carefully orchestrated his November 1979 rollout. The former California governor was perceived as a Westerner, so he announced his bid in New York and campaigned in Boston.
Standing out
For the rivalrous band of Republican hopefuls, these early-stage debuts could become critical breakthroughs.
“If they can work magic with the announcement, that’s their first great shot,” said Fred Davis, a Hollywood-based media strategist on past Republican presidential campaigns. “The priority for every single one of these is to springboard the announcement into being in the top tier.”
Jeb Bush’s allies speculate that he could start his campaign from Florida’s capital of Tallahassee, which would highlight his conservative gubernatorial record. Or at a successful urban charter school, showcasing his lifelong commitment to education reform and his “right to rise” slogan.
A Rick Santorum adviser said the former senator probably could begin in a blue-collar setting in Pennsylvania, where his grandfather worked in a coal mine.
Donald Trump wants to leave a ritzy impression. The billionaire real-estate mogul, if he runs, said he is eyeing his gleaming Manhattan skyscraper, adorned with pink marble and brass.
Carly Fiorina, a former Silicon Valley executive, plans to make mobile technology and social media a centerpiece of her campaign rollout, probably in late April or early May.
Could New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie begin his bid this summer on a Jersey Shore boardwalk rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy?
Might former Texas Gov. Rick Perry stage an announcement in his childhood home of Paint Creek, highlighting his rural and impoverished roots, or in a military setting as an homage to his time in the Air Force?
Will Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, campaigning as a suburban Midwestern everyman, wear one of his treasured Kohl’s shirts or ride in on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle?
What about Clinton?
She announced her 2008 campaign in a softly lit and slickly produced video. This time around, the former secretary of state does not need a splashy entrance to gain notice. Some Democrats think Clinton should opt for understatement and accessibility so the global celebrity can reconnect with ordinary Americans and show she won’t take the Democratic nomination for granted.
