Clinton aims to crack the highest glass ceiling

Hillary Clinton's disciplined politics

She has called it America's "highest, hardest" glass ceiling. To shatter it, Hillary Clinton plans to embrace the history-making potential of her presidential candidacy this time around, rather than running away from it.

As Mrs Clinton puts the finishes touches on the official launch of her 2016 bid, expected on Sunday via a video announcement on social media, a cadre of advisers and long-time confidants have signalled one core plank of her platform: she will put her own experiences as a woman and her record on women's issues at the centre of her campaign.

That will mark a critical departure from her hard-fought contest against President Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic nomination, where she intentionally downplayed her gender out of fear voters would perceive her as not tough enough for the Oval Office.

Seven years later, Mrs Clinton aims to forge a more personal connection with Americans by giving nearly as much prominence to her experiences as a mother and a new grandmother as to her resume as a former secretary of state, former senator and former first lady.

She will also make the case that advancing policies like reducing wage inequality between men and women, providing for paid sick leave and universal pre-kindergarten education for children and closing the gender gap in labour force participation rates are part and parcel of giving a leg up to America's still struggling middle class.

"Hillary's going to talk about the issues she's always talked about with respect to women and economic fairness," said Neera Tanden, who served as Mrs Clinton's policy director on her 2008 campaign. "But it will definitely be better matched this time around."

Many current and former advisers believe that Mrs Clinton's decision to cede the mantle of epochal change to Mr Obama, America's first black president, during her last campaign was one of her team's gravest mistakes.

It was not until the final day of her candidacy, in her concession speech to the man she had once been expected to sweep aside easily, that she reached for the soaring rhetoric more commonly associated with Mr Obama to mark the lost chance to become America's first female president.

"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," Mrs Clinton said. "And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time."

However, it is a strategy that carries with it significant risk.

Mrs Clinton's popularity has slid in recent months, as she became embroiled in a scandal over her use of a personal email account during her time as secretary of state and following a series of articles questioning the propriety of donations to the Clinton Foundation, the charitable organisation that she, her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and her daughter Chelsea have played an active role in.

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Her experiences as a woman include the searing scandal over her husband's affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, that led to his impeachment trial during his second term in office - an experience she has said left her "dumbfounded" and "heartbroken."

Among men, in particular, she remains a deeply polarising figure even in her own party. In a recent survey by Gallup, just half of male Democrats said they would like to see Mrs Clinton as the party's 2016 nominee, versus 63 per cent of female Democrats surveyed.

Perhaps most importantly, most US voters say that the prospect of electing the first female president would have little to no impact on their choice, raising questions about the wisdom of touting it as a central campaign theme.

"At the end of the day, voters do not vote for any woman simply because they are a woman, they vote for a woman because of the policies she supports," said Marcy Stech, communications director at Emily's List, an organisation whose mission is to get more pro-choice Democratic women elected.

Driving Mrs Clinton's new strategy is a sense among her advisers that the economic and political landscape has shifted markedly over the past seven years.

Policies such as expanding maternity leave and improving access to affordable child care attract bipartisan support, as both parties look to win over America's broad swath of middle class voters.

Mrs Clinton's image as a leading advocate of families and women's rights is an advantage they cannot afford to squander.

In a new epilogue to her second memoir, "Hard Choices," Mrs Clinton previews the message she will take on the trail.

"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. Rather than make me want to slow down, it has spurred me to speed up."

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