Hillary Clinton’s official entry into the presidential race on April 12 came in the form of a slick YouTube video and a series of choreographed round-table events in Iowa, where Clinton asked more questions than she answered and listened more than she spoke. A more traditional big-picture speech and rally outlining Clinton’s vision for the country’s future and her reason for running, the campaign said, would follow in May.

But the formal roll-out is now being delayed indefinitely, pushed back at least until June, for largely political reasons: a desire to spend more time on fundraising and fleshing out policy positions before inviting more public scrutiny.


“If they had their druthers, they would basically get off the front pages, let the Republicans eat themselves alive, and let her do what she needs to do: raise the money and not have to be part of the debate right now,” said one Clinton donor who’s familiar with the campaign’s thinking. “She has 100 percent name recognition and is in a good place vis a vis the primary. Why put your foot on the accelerator?”

In place of a formal launch, Clinton is spending the remainder of May traveling — to Iowa and New Hampshire this week, and South Carolina next week, where she is scheduled to engage in private meetings with activists and more of the same staged round-table discussions. Next week, Clinton also heads to Florida for a handful of fundraisers.

In memos to donors, campaign operatives have compared the low-stakes early-state events to the exploratory phase of a campaign, before the candidate officially enters the race. And Clinton’s camp appears in no rush to leave that protected space.

A few factors, campaign insiders said, are driving the delay. Fundraising worries trumped the need to emerge with a big rally, partly because of the prospect of Jeb Bush’s fundraising juggernaut. Clinton was forced to hit the money circuit earlier than planned, attending intimate events with donors in New York, Washington and California. “She will not be able to do fundraising at people’s houses for a few hundred thousand dollars when the campaign is in full speed,” the donor said. “She’ll have to do higher-ticket and bigger events.”

At the same time, important planks of Clinton’s policy platform are still being fleshed out. A source said that initiatives surrounding student loans — which she plans to make an important part of her platform, in part due to pressure from the left — are still months out.

On Tuesday, at a round-table in Iowa, Clinton’s trademark caution was on display as she again avoided taking any position on President Barack Obama’s contentious trade deal. “I’ve said I want to judge the final agreement,” she said. “I’ve been for trade agreements, I’ve been against trade agreements.”

There’s been no single moment in May that would have been a clean time for a big kickoff speech. She’s been fending off allegations about Clinton Foundation donors seeking to curry favor with the State Department; faced the prospect of testifying in front of a congressional hearing on Benghazi; and contended with publicity surrounding the release of personal financial disclosures showing the Clintons had made at least $30 million since 2014 — the month was clouded with the kind of stories Clinton has called “distractions.”

Her Iowa trip this week might have afforded an opportunity for a formal launch event but Clinton appears to be enjoying the small, manageable round-table settings, which allow her to talk about issues she wants to address on her own terms. In Las Vegas, for instance, Clinton used the round-table setting to make real news: She called for a path to citizenship and more protections for parents of Dreamers, moving beyond Obama on immigration reform.

The slow walk-up to the campaign isn’t necessarily a problem, Iowa activists said, because she’s not starting from zero. “This has been a very slow emergence … but I have not felt that we, as Iowans, don’t know who this person is,” said Kurt Meyer, chair of the Tri County Democrats in Iowa. “We have a full file folder on Hillary Clinton. This is not like we walk into class, and there’s a blank whiteboard.”

But some Iowans are ready for the campaign’s next phase. “Clearly there are some important issues — not the least of which is trade — that we’d like to have a pretty solid answer on,” said Ken Sagar, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “If you want to be the leader of the country and the free world, now would be a good time to step up and let us know what your position is on important issues that are in the process of being debated, discussed and determined.”

Iowans want details on raising wages and relieving student loan debt, among other issues, Sagar said.

On Tuesday, a campaign aide said Clinton was expanding her travel schedule beyond the early voting states, with trips to Florida, Texas and Missouri in the coming weeks. But it was still not clear when the traditional launch event might take place, signaling the transition into the next phase of her campaign.

“The early focus of the campaign is on directly interacting with voters, answering their questions and discussing their ideas,” a campaign spokesman said. “Our next steps will be announced soon.”