“She was a supporter of mine in the general election, she was an outstanding secretary of State, she is my friend. I think she would be an excellent president.”

— President Obama, quoted by The Hill, on Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

“Humility is the order of the day. Last time, they launched as a big juggernaut cloaked in the veil of inevitability and at 20,000 feet. There was a tremendous backlash to that.”

— David Axelrod, quoted by the Washington Post, on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign kickoff this weekend.

Hillary Clinton’s “long-anticipated entry into the 2016 presidential race took shape Friday, with Democrats saying she will announce her candidacy on Sunday and begin a series of deliberately small discussions with voters next week,” the Washington Post reports.

“The low-key rollout — no big rallies or lengthy speeches — will end months of speculation surrounding the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination. Clinton intends to begin her second White House bid via social media, probably Twitter, and include a video that introduces her economic-centered campaign message before jetting to Iowa next week for public appearances. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Clinton’s fundraising machine is coming to life.”

New York Times: “Mrs. Clinton’s team is also planning a slow expansion of its staff over the course of the year, deliberately avoiding the appearance of a battleship heading into the fight, as her organization seemed on her entry into the 2008 Democratic campaign.”

First Read: “The early events likely will be small — reminiscent of that ‘Listening Tour‘ as she began to run for that New York Senate seat in 2000. In other words, she is going to be going door-to-door, meeting with voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, etc. one-on-one… The lesson learned from 2008: Clinton isn’t as comfortable going big — a la Barack Obama or even her husband. But there is a risk to this go-small strategy. It lacks a message.”

“Indeed, Clinton’s early rollout is answering the process question (how the announcement will go down, etc.), but it isn’t answering the message question (what her campaign will be about). Now it’s likely we will see a here’s-why-I’m-running-for-president speech from Clinton next month; the April ‘Listening Tour’ showers will bring May’s bigger flowers. But given how a month seems like an eternity in our new media landscape, Clinton’s challenge will be running without answering that message question.”

A new Bloomberg National poll finds that 72% of Democrats and independents said it would be a good thing for the Democratic Party if Hillary Clinton were to face a “serious” challenger for the presidential nomination.

Also interesting: “Clinton will confront continued skepticism about whether she has been truthful in saying that she’s turned over all e-mails relevant to her time as secretary of state. Fifty-three percent of Americans say they think she purposely withheld or deleted some relevant e-mails from a private account and home server she used while in office. Just 29 percent of respondents said they thought she was being truthful.”

“On Thursday night, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff John Podesta held a private dinner at his Washington home with campaign reporters, part of a larger Clinton-team effort to build a rapport with the men and women who will spend the next 18 months covering Clinton’s bid for the White House,” Politico reports.

“That effort is seen as a necessity for a candidate who, in the early months of 2015, has had no safe harbor in the media.”