Subject: 12.5.14 CTR Weekend TPs
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 15:57:29 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

​Hi all,

Please find Correct The Record's weekend talking points package both
attached and below.

*12.5.14 Weekend Package*

*1.      *Hillary Clinton’s Remarks on Events in Ferguson and Staten Island

*2.      *Hillary Clinton: Stemming the Tide of Climate Change TPs

*3.      *New Benghazi Report Proves Right Wing Wrong TPs

*4.      *Hillary Clinton: A Lifetime Champion of the Middle Class TPs

*5.      *Hillary Clinton’s Speaking Fees TPs

*6.      *MEMO: Lame-Duck Period Brings Lame Attacks

*7.      *Women, Peace, and Security Analysis

*HILLARY CLINTON’S REMARKS ON EVENTS IN FERGUSON AND STATEN ISLAND*

*BACKGROUND: **At a speech in Boston on Thursday, Hillary Clinton discussed
the situation in Ferguson, Missouri and in Staten Island, New York and
talked about race relations and our criminal justice system in general.*

 ·          “I know that a lot of hearts are breaking, and we are asking
ourselves, ‘Aren’t these our sons? Aren’t these our brothers?’”

 ·         “Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and
justice in America…When one stops and realizes a third of all Black men
face the prospect of prison during their lifetimes, what devastating
consequences that has for their families, and their communities, and all of
us.”

 ·         “We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of
balance. And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity
to come together as a nation to find our balance again.”

 ·         “I’m very pleased that the Department of Justice will be
investigating what happened in Ferguson or Staten Island. Those families
and those communities and our country deserve a full and fair accounting as
well as whatever substantive reforms are necessary to ensure equality,
justice, and respect for every citizen…I support the President’s
announcement of a task force on policing.”

 ·         “We all know there are decent, honorable, brave police officers
out in our communities every single day, inspiring trust and confidence
rather than fear and frustration. So let’s learn from the best examples.
Let’s invest in what works.”

 ·         “The most important thing each of us can do is to try even
harder to see the world through our neighbors’ eyes. To imagine what it is
like to walk in their shoes, to share their pain and their hopes and their
dreams. These tragedies did not happen in some far-away place. They didn’t
happen to some other people. These are our streets, our children, our
fellow Americans, and our grief…We are all in this together, we can all do
better.”

*Hillary Clinton’s Remarks on Recent Events in Ferguson and Staten Island*

Before I begin today, I want to say a few words about the pain and
frustration that many Americans are feeling about our criminal justice
system. I know that a lot of hearts are breaking, and we are asking
ourselves, ‘Aren’t these our sons? Aren’t these our brothers?’

I’m very pleased that the Department of Justice will be investigating what
happened in Ferguson or Staten Island. Those families and those communities
and our country deserve a full and fair accounting as well as whatever
substantive reforms are necessary to ensure equality, justice, and respect
for every citizen.

Now, more broadly, each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about
race and justice in America. Because despite all the progress we’ve made
together, African-Americans, most particularly African-American men, are
still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with
crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms. And, when one stops and
realizes a third of all Black men face the prospect of prison during their
lifetimes, what devastating consequences that has for their families, and
their communities, and all of us. The United States has less than five
percent of the world’s population, yet we have almost twenty-five percent
of the world’s total prison population. Now, that is not because Americans
are more violent or criminal than others around the world. In fact, that is
far from the facts. But it is because we have allowed our criminal justice
system to get out of balance.

And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come
together as a nation to find our balance again. All over the country, there
are creative and effective police departments demonstrating that it is
possible to keep us safe and reduce crime and violence without relying on
unnecessary force or excessive incarceration. And we all know there are
decent, honorable, brave police officers out in our communities every
single day, inspiring trust and confidence rather than fear and
frustration. So let’s learn from the best examples. Let’s invest in what
works. Let’s make sure that federal funds to state and local law
enforcement are used to bolster best practices, rather than buy weapons of
war that have no place on our streets or contribute to unnecessary force or
arrests.

And I support the President’s announcement of a task force on policing that
will make recommendations in about 90 days. He’s proposed funding for
technology and training, which are important steps. But as we move forward,
we can’t leave it to presidents, governors, mayors, police commissioners
and chiefs.

The most important thing each of us can do is to try even harder to see the
world through our neighbors’ eyes. To imagine what it is like to walk in
their shoes, to share their pain and their hopes and their dreams. These
tragedies did not happen in some far-away place. They didn’t happen to some
other people. These are our streets, our children, our fellow Americans,
and our grief. Now being here in Massachusetts, a place that has always
called itself a commonwealth, I see a history where people slowly but
surely overcame the obstacles to living in common, recognizing we are all
in this together, we can all do better.

*TALKING POINTS: HILLARY CLINTON STEMMING THE TIDE OF CLIMATE CHANGE*

*“It took a lot of work by a lot of people to create the problem of climate
change over the last centuries. And it will take our very best efforts to
counter it.” – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton*

   -    On Monday, Hillary Clinton spoke strongly about the environment at
   a League of Conservation Voters event, saying
   <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/hillary-clinton-keystone-113250.html>,
   “The science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers
   may say.”

o   “‘Our economy still runs primarily on fossil fuels and trying to change
that will take strong leadership,’ she said. But ‘we do not have to choose
between a healthy environment and a healthy economy.’ Instead, she said
moving to a greener economy will create jobs and help make ‘America the
clean energy super-power of the 21st Century.’” [MSNBC, 12/1/14
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-goes-green>]

o   “I know many of us have serious concerns with the risks associated with
the rapidly expanding production of natural gas…Methane leaks in the
production and transportation of natural gas pose a particularly troubling
threat so it is crucial we put in place smart regulations and enforce them
– including deciding not to drill when the risks to local communities,
landscapes and ecosystems are just too high…If we are smart about this and
put in place the right safeguards natural gas can play an important bridge
role in the transition to a cleaner energy economy.” [The Guardian, 12/1/14
<http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/02/hillary-clinton-says-fracking-carries-risks-in-conservation-speech>
]

o   “Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters,
thought Clinton hit it out of the park. ‘You saw her tonight, coming to our
organization and really leaning in to this issue to make it clear how much
she cares about it,’ he told reporters after her speech. ‘She’s always been
committed on it, and she’s voted right very consistently, but with this
audience, she’s now making whole comments and focusing on this.’” [MSNBC,
12/1/14 <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-goes-green>]

   -  As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton looked to the future, planning
   for our generation and the next generation of Americans when she
   prioritized the fight against climate change as a matter of foreign policy.

o   Secretary Clinton appointed a Special Envoy for Climate Change to serve
as an advisor on international climate change policy.

o   She established the Bureau of Energy Resources to address the threat of
climate change posed by the world’s energy consumption.

   -             Secretary Clinton led the way through partnerships and
   developed incentives to encourage cooperation and progress toward reducing
   our footprint on the environment.

o   Secretary Clinton helped negotiate an unprecedented agreement between
all major economies to commit to curb carbon emissions through 2020.

o   She launched the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a thirty-seven
country partnership that is making important strides to reduce methane
emissions all over the world.

o   Recognizing that dirty cookstoves kill nearly 2 million people a year
and are harmful to the environment, Secretary Clinton took action and
launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in order to save lives
and protect our planet.

o   She signed an agreement with Brazil to strengthen cooperation as the
U.S. and Brazil work together to meet the grave challenge of global climate
change.

   -            In the Senate, Hillary Clinton fought to protect the
   environment for the next generation.

o   Senator Clinton stood up to polluters and fought to promote cleaner
energy, introducing bills to eliminate tax breaks for oil companies and
prioritize investment in cleaner energy.

o   Senator Clinton worked with Democrats and Republicans alike to promote
energy efficient federal buildings and create job-training programs in
clean energy.

o   Hillary Clinton worked with her fellow Senators to protect and preserve
some of America’s greatest natural treasures, including Niagara Falls and
the Great Lakes region.

*TALKING POINTS: NEW BENGHAZI REPORT PROVES RIGHT WING WRONG*

*KEY POINTS:*

·         Last weekend, both the Washington Post and The Des Moines
Register editorial boards were among the latest to declare that the right
wing’s conspiracy theories about the Benghazi tragedy have all been
debunked.

·         A two-year investigation into the Benghazi tragedy by the
Republican-led House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence proved
right-wing conspiracy theorists to be flat wrong and their attacks to be
baseless.

·         The committee’s report was released on November 21 by Chairman
Mike Rogers (R-MI), and Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD).

·         The report debunks past and ongoing right-wing attacks on Hillary
Clinton and further proves that the right wing is playing politics on the
backs of dead Americans in an attempt to score political points.

·         The report adds to the extensive reporting already completed by
the ten congressional committees involved in investigating Benghazi.

House Judiciary

"Five Chairman" Interim Report on Benghazi Investigation

4/23/2013
<http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Libya-Progress-Report-Final-1.pdf>

House Armed Services

The Security Failures of Benghazi

10/10/2012
<http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/the-security-failures-of-benghazi/>

House Foreign Affairs

Benghazi and Beyond: What Went Wrong on September 11, 2012 and How to
Prevent it from Happening at other Frontline Posts

11/15/2012
<http://archives.republicans.foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearings/view/?1478>

House Intelligence

The Benghazi Talking Points and Michael J. Morell’s Role in Shaping the
Administration’s Narrative

4/2/2014
<http://intelligence.house.gov/hearing/benghazi-talking-points-and-michael-j-morell%E2%80%99s-role-shaping-administration%E2%80%99s-narrative>

House Oversight

Reviews of the Benghazi Attack and Unanswered Questions

9/19/2013
<http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/reviews-of-the-benghazi-attacks-and-unanswered-questions/>

Senate HSGA

Flashing Red: A Special Report On The Terrorist Attack At Benghazi

12/30/2012 <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2012_rpt/benghazi.pdf>

Senate Intelligence

Hearing on the Attacks in Benghazi

11/15/2012 <http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=337850>

Senate Foreign Relations

Benghazi: The Attacks and the Lessons Learned (HRC Testimony)

1/23/2013
<http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/benghazi-the-attacks-and-the-lessons-learned>

Senate Armed Services

Attack on U.S. Facilities in Benghazi, Libya

2/7/2013
<http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/oversight-attack-on-us-facilities-in-benghazi-libya>

Benghazi Select Committee

Benghazi Attack and Diplomatic Security

9/17/2014
<http://www.c-span.org/video/?321495-1/hearing-2012-benghazi-consulate-attacks>

·         It concludes that there was no wrongdoing by Obama administration
officials. [AP, 11/21/14
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ecc3a300383445d5a90dd6ca764c9e15/house-intel-panel-debunks-many-benghazi-theories>
]

·         The final report made the following conclusions:

o   There was no intelligence failure before the attack. [CNN, 11/22/14
<http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/21/politics/benghazi-attack-report/index.html>
*]*

o   No stand-down order was issued. [CNN, 11/22/14
<http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/21/politics/benghazi-attack-report/index.html>
*]*

o   The administration did not intentionally mislead the public about the
details surrounding the attacks. [New York Times, 11/22/14
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/world/middleeast/republican-led-benghazi-inquiry-largely-backs-administration.html>
]

·         According to David Brock, “The Republican committee report should
close the case….If the scandal persists into 2016, it will only be for
partisan reasons.” [New York Times, 11/22/14
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/world/middleeast/republican-led-benghazi-inquiry-largely-backs-administration.html>
]

*MEDIA REACTION:*

·         “A report released late Friday about the fatal 2012 attacks in
Benghazi, Libya, left Republicans in the same position they have been in
for two years: with little evidence to support their most damning critiques
of how the Obama administration, and then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton, responded to the attacks.” [New York Times, 11/22/14
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/world/middleeast/republican-led-benghazi-inquiry-largely-backs-administration.html>
]

·         “Members of the Republican Party have made the Benghazi disaster
even more difficult to comprehend by advancing a series of bizarre
conspiracy theories intended to besmirch the Obama administration… Now, the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by outgoing Rep.
Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and with Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) as
ranking minority member, has published a sober report after a two-year
investigation. The report looks primarily at the performance of the
intelligence community, but it also concludes that many of the Republican
accusations are simply not true.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, 11/29/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>
]

·         “Rather than malfeasance or incompetence, the House intelligence
committee says that many Americans performed courageously in the attack.
Officials from State, Defense and the CIA did what they could to save
lives, making ‘reasonable tactical decisions about how to respond to the
attacks.’” [Washington Post Editorial Board, 11/29/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>
]

·         “’There was neither a stand down order nor a denial of available
air support, and no American was left behind,’ the panel concluded. The
panel found that there was ‘no evidence of an intelligence failure’ prior
to the attack — the CIA did not have tactical warning that it was
imminent.” [Washington Post Editorial Board, 11/29/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>
]

·         “The House is planning yet another investigation, which will be
the eighth into these events. This seems superfluous.” [Washington Post
Editorial Board, 11/29/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>
]

·         “This week's record-correcting news comes from the
Republican-controlled committee in the U.S. House of Representatives that
found nothing much to fault the administration for in the 2012 attacks on
the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.” [The Des Moines Register Editorial
Board, 11/28/14
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/11/28/little-scandal-benghazi/19649305/>
]

·         “The scandal launched numerous congressional investigations,
including a big one by the House Intelligence Committee. The committee
released its report last week, concluding that the CIA and U.S. military
‘responded appropriately to the attacks,’ according to the Washington Post,
and dismissed allegations that the administration ‘blocked rescue attempts
during the assault or sought to mislead the public afterward.’" [The Des
Moines Register Editorial Board, 11/28/14
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/11/28/little-scandal-benghazi/19649305/>
]

·         “This isn't exactly blowing up on your television screen right
now, is it? Further evidence — as if any was needed — that the media devote
far more attention to accusations of scandal than to subsequent reports
demonstrating that there wasn't actually a scandal.” [Dylan Byers,
Politico, 8/4/14
<http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/08/a-shocking-new-benghazi-report-193395.html#.U9_UWYxj9y0.twitter>
]

·         “After two years of investigation, it found no evidence to
buttress any of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012,
attack that killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three
other Americans. In short, all of the things that were alleged to have
happened didn’t happen.” [Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, 8/4/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/08/04/new-report-wont-stand-down-benghazi-conspiracy-theories/>
]

·         “Of course, this will most likely have no bearing on that special
Benghazi committee authorized three months ago by the House and headed by
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.). As Steve Benen atmsnbc.com reports, there have
been eight separate investigations into the Libyan attacks. Not one has
uncovered the rumored (and hoped-for) cover-up. That’s because there isn’t
one. Please proceed, Rep. Gowdy.” [Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post,
8/4/14
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/08/04/new-report-wont-stand-down-benghazi-conspiracy-theories/>
]

·         “Yet the broad conclusion he outlined — that while the
administration botched its initial talking points due to conflicting
intelligence, it was not hiding some big explosive scandal — further
undercuts the GOP's claims to the contrary. A bipartisan Senate report
released in January similarly found that there was no evidence of a
cover-up.” [The Week, 8/4/14
<http://theweek.com/article/index/265778/house-intel-report-on-benghazi-finds-no-secret-obama-scandal>
]

·         “In effect, that reduces Gowdy's ‘investigation’ into a highly
partisan spin operation that attempts to repackage the truth into something
that sounds much worse than it actually is.  Then again, that pretty much
epitomizes what ‘Benghazi!!!!!’ has been all along.” [Jay Bookman, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, 8/5/14
<http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/2014/aug/05/final-nails-being-pounded-benghazi-scandal/>
]

*THE FACTS:*

·         *Secretary Clinton took responsibility:* In interviews
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm7hLUc2-qM>, testimony
<http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1301/23/se.02.html> and in her book
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/hillary-clintons-benghazi-chapter-107240.html>,
Secretary Clinton has taken responsibility repeatedly. She was determined
to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more
secure.

·         *Secretary Clinton took action:* Secretary Clinton appointed
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2013/01/203158.htm> a
nonpartisan, independent Accountability Review Board to review what
happened and began <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/05/209672.htm> the
process of implementing the 29 recommendations put forth by the ARB before
leaving the State Department to strengthen embassy security.

·         *Secretary Clinton was fully transparent:* Secretary Clinton fully
<http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1301/23/se.01.html> and publicly
<http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1301/23/se.02.html> answered
questions before Congress. The report of the Accountability Review Board is
just the second to be made public, making it one of the most transparent
internal reviews in State Department history.

·         *The Benghazi tragedy has been investigated exhaustively, costing
taxpayers millions of dollars to repeat the same investigations over
again.* Ten
different congressional committees have participated in investigating the
Benghazi tragedy. They have held more than 50 senior level staff briefings,
14 public hearings, at least 3 independent/bipartisan reports, dozens of
interviews, and the disclosure of more than 25,000 pages of documents. The
Department of Defense reported
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pentagon-says-benghazi-probes-cost-millions>
that
these efforts have cost the taxpayers millions of dollars and thousands of
man-hours. The House Select Committee on Benghazi is expected to cost
taxpayers more than $3 million.

*TALKING POINTS: HILLARY CLINTON: A LIFETIME CHAMPION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS*

*“With all due respect, it is not rich people who made America great. It is
the vast American middle class. It is the upward mobility of people who
thought they could do better than their parents.”*

*–Hillary Clinton*

*BACKGROUND:* Hillary Clinton has dedicated her life to ensuring that
hardworking Americans can succeed.  In uncertain times, families need faith
that opportunity for their children and grandchildren is alive and well.
Hillary Clinton wants the American Dream to be a real possibility for every
child and every family across our nation.

·         *Hillary Clinton knows that tomorrow’s shared success starts with
today’s child*, and her dedication to children began long before she ever
entered public office. In fact, her first job out of law school was for the
newly-formed Children’s Defense Fund, an organization she would later chair.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton has worked to expand access to early childhood
education for children of lower-income families.* As First Lady of
Arkansas, Hillary Clinton introduced her husband to the HIPPY program,
which expanded early childhood education to economically disadvantaged
children. In the Senate, Clinton partnered with Kit Bond in an effort to
expand voluntary full-day pre-K for children from low-income families.
Today, as part of the Too Small to Fail Initiative to improve the health
and well-being of children five and under, Hillary Clinton is working to
close the “word gap” for kids in low-income families who often have smaller
vocabularies than their classmates.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton has worked to increase health coverage for
millions of children in low-income and working families* through the State
Children’s Health Insurance Program, a program she helped created as First
Lady. In the Senate, Hillary Clinton looked for ways to strengthen the
program, introducing bills to allow states to expand it.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton’s record proves she believes that every
American should be able to earn an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work.* As
a Senator, Hillary Clinton introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act and was an
original cosponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

 ·         *In the Senate, Hillary Clinton supported increasing the minimum
wage* and voted repeatedly to protect and increase it. She was an original
cosponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, and authored the 2006 and
2007 Standing with Minimum Wage Act to tie Congressional salary increases
to an increase in the minimum wage.

 ·         *As a Senator, Hillary Clinton supported progressive tax
policies* that required millionaires to pay their fair share. She opposed
tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations in 2001 and 2003,
and she supported a variety of middle-class tax cuts, including tax credits
for student loan recipients, and keeping in place the tax cuts for those
who make under $250,000 a year.

o   Clinton has said “that inherited wealth and concentrated wealth is not
good for America,” and she has consistently voted against repealing the
estate tax on millionaires, doing so in 2001, 2002, and 2006.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton supported working families going through
difficult times through no fault of their own.* In the Senate, she was a
bipartisan leader on fighting to extend emergency unemployment benefits.

 *BOTTOM LINE:* Leading the charge for equal pay for equal work, fighting
to increase  wages, strongly advocating for progressive tax policies and
access to education and healthcare to help middle-class families – Hillary
Clinton has fought for an America and a future where everyone can rise to
their potential.

*HILLARY CLINTON’S RECENT STATEMENTS ON THE MIDDLE CLASS*

*In her many public appearances over the past year, Hillary Clinton has
continued to advocate for the middle class by sharing her vision all over
the country:*

·         *In a speech to a women-focused event for Democrat Tom Wolf,
“Clinton focused on ‘hard-working families’ and restoring America’s luster
and a strong middle class with ‘a fresh start.’”* According to Politico,
Clinton gave one of her strongest political speeches since her 2008
campaign ended in June 2008 as she headlined a women-focused event for
Democratic gubernatorial Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania. Clinton focused on
“hard-working families” and restoring America’s luster and a strong middle
class with “a fresh start,” as well as women’s pay equity and her gauzy
first days as a new grandmother. For the first time in months, Clinton’s
public talk was neither a dry recitation of public policy nor a
self-reflection about her tenure as secretary of state.” [Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/pennsylvania-governor-race-2014-tom-wolf-hillary-clinton-111760.html#ixzz3Fkai9jLu>,
10/9/14]

·         *Clinton’s language at a women-focused event for Democrat Tom
Wolf was “some of her strongest about rebuilding the middle class.”* According
to Politico, “The remarks were some of her strongest about rebuilding the
middle class. They came after she was accused of being out of touch for her
comment in June about being ‘dead broke’ when she left the White House, and
for giving paid speeches at exorbitant prices.” [Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/pennsylvania-governor-race-2014-tom-wolf-hillary-clinton-111760.html#ixzz3Fkai9jLu>,
10/9/14]

·         *The theme of Clinton’s speech at an event for Pennsylvania
gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf was working families.* According to
BuzzFeed, “The thread running through Clinton’s message here in
Pennsylvania, the state she won six years ago in a primary against Barack
Obama, was working families — a theme she teased repeatedly throughout her
speech with populist undertones, mentions of her granddaughter, and stories
about her own trips as a child to Scranton, where Clinton’s father, Hugh,
was born to a working-class immigrant family.” [BuzzFeed
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/hillary-clinton-finds-her-message#ukknyi>,
9/9/14]

·         *In Pennsylvania, Clinton criticized the power of corporations,
siding with middle-class families.* According to the Wall Street Journal,
“Though she and her husband have raised more than $1 billion from U.S.
companies and corporate officials over the last two decades*, *Mrs. Clinton
signaled that she sided with everyday families struggling to pay bills and
keep afloat. Corporations, she said, ‘seem to have all the rights, but none
of the responsibilities of people …’ She decried practices that pay women
less than men for the same work and took aim at politicians who’ve
belittled women’s rights. ‘A 20th century economy will not work for
21st century
families,’ she said.” [Wall Street Journal
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/10/09/hillary-clinton-blends-family-stories-populist-attacks-at-pennsylvania-rally/>,
9/9/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she would
fight to restore and re-open the middle class. *According to TPM, “The
notion of ‘upward mobility’ was central to Clinton's message to the New
American audience in May. She described it as ‘time-tested wisdom’ that was
‘at the heart of what I believe is the basic bargain of America.’… Here is
how Clinton described that basic bargain of America, as she sees it, in
May: ‘No matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard and
play by the rules, you’ll have the opportunity to build a good life for
yourself and your family.’" [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she can
address income inequality and gender inequality. *According to TPM, “So
income inequality has been a big part of the message. But it's also been
married to inequality between the sexes. At both the New American and CAP
events, the same factoid made an appearance: That three-quarters of jobs
that rely on tips -- like ‘waiters, bartenders and hairstylists’ as she
said on both occasions -- are held by women…. And she said Thursday that
these issues should be used to mobilize voters -- in the 2014 midterms and
moving forward.” [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]

·         *In recent speeches, Clinton has taken a tougher stance on big
business, likely in “an effort to find the balance between populism and her
familiar centrism” she may need in 2016, according to Reuters. *According
to Reuters, “Long viewed as an ally by Wall Street, likely 2016
presidential contender Hillary Clinton has increasingly been taking banks
and big business to task while on the campaign trail for Democrats across
the country.… This is a change of tone for the former New York senator, who
faced criticism for her Wall Street ties as recently as September, after
appearing with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein. Allies
and analysts see it as an effort to find the balance between populism and
her familiar centrism that Clinton may need in order to broaden her appeal
in a potential 2016 Democratic primary contest.” [Reuters
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/02/us-usa-elections-clinton-idUSKBN0IM0ED20141102>,
11/2/14]

·         *During a New Hampshire midterm event, Clinton discussed
expanding economic opportunity and raising the minimum wage. *According to
the Boston Globe, “Clinton spoke in New Hampshire about expanding economic
opportunity, raising the minimum wage, and protecting women’s rights. She
acknowledged that, across the country, there is ‘a lot of anxiety and
insecurity.’ But the former secretary of state and US senator from New York
struck a hopeful note: She bookended her remarks talking about her new
granddaughter and said seeing another generation in the family focuses the
mind on what’s important. Clinton said she and her husband were raised to
believe the American Dream was within your reach if you worked hard. ‘You
should not,’ Clinton told a packed gymnasium, ‘have to be the grandchild of
a governor or a senator or a former secretary of state or a former
president to believe that the American Dream is in your reach.’” [Boston
Globe
<http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/02/hillary-clinton-campaign-with-jeanne-shaheen-maggie-hassan-new-hampshire/rNXPdVMI3umCS97hOY5ytK/story.html>,
11/2/14]

·         *In midterm campaign appearances, Clinton has been echoing
populist notes. *According to Bloomberg, Clinton “has been sounding more
populist notes of late as a campaign-trail advocate for Democratic
candidates who are on the ballot next week. That's an important turn as she
contemplates a run for president in 2016 because Clinton's biggest weakness
among Democrats, and some Republicans, is the perception that she's too
close to Wall Street and corporate America…. And the more anti-corporate
tone is pleasing to the ears of liberals who have pined for Senator
Elizabeth Warren, a scourge of Wall Street banks, to challenge Clinton for
the Democratic nomination. And, they say, it's a message Clinton can use
against Republicans because many in the GOP have turned wary of Wall Street
and big corporations since the 2008 financial crash.” [Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-27/clinton-trickledone-economics-has-failed>,
10/27/14]

·         *During a midterm appearance in New York, Clinton clarified
earlier comments about companies and job creation, while maintaining the
same theme: “Clinton’s for the little guy.” *According to Bloomberg, “Days
after Republicans feasted on her claim that corporations don't create jobs,
Hillary Clinton tried Monday to ‘be absolutely clear about what I've been
saying for a couple of decades.’ ‘So-called trickle-down economics has
failed,’ Clinton said as she stumped for Representative Sean Patrick
Maloney in New York. ‘Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs
create good-paying jobs here in an America where workers and families are
empowered to build from the bottom up and the middle out–not when we hand
out tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or stash their profits
overseas.’ While campaigning Friday for Massachusetts gubernatorial
candidate Martha Coakley, Clinton created a stir–and drew criticism from
Republicans–by saying, ‘Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations
and businesses that create jobs.’…The cleaned-up message, though, hits at
the same theme: Clinton's for the little guy.” [Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-27/clinton-trickledone-economics-has-failed>,
10/27/14]

·         *While campaigning for Democrats in the midterm election, Clinton
frequently tells voters that “everyone deserves a second chance, a third
chance.” *According to a CNN, an investigation into Clinton’s most common
lines on the trail found that Clinton frequently tells voters, "‘Everyone
deserves a second chance, a third chance...’ Clinton has focused a great
deal on economic populism on the stump, an issue other Democrats thinking
about seeking the presidency in 2016 have started to tweak Clinton on.
‘Everyone deserves a second chance, a third chance to keep going and to
make something of themselves,’ Clinton said in Iowa earlier this year.
‘That was one of the most important lessons of my life.’ Clinton usually
uses the line to encourage compassion from a crowd, and to show that she
has compassion, too.” [CNN
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/politics/clinton-midterm-lines/>, 10/28/14]

·         *In a San Francisco speech, Clinton revealed some of what may be
her economic message: “Who’s on your side?” *According to the Washington
Post, “Here in San Francisco on Monday, Clinton gave a spirited call to
arms to Democrats as she road-tested what is likely to be her economic
message if she runs again. The November midterms, she said, come down ‘to a
simple question: Who’s on your side?’ She sounded close to her party’s
populist marrow when she decried the erosion of economic security for many
working Americans, and a long way from her tone-deaf remark earlier this
year about being ‘dead broke’ when she and Bill Clinton left the White
House in 2000. ‘It’s time to elect leaders who will fight for everyone to
get a fair shot at the American dream,’ Hillary Clinton said.” [Washington
Post
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-is-a-bright-spot-on-a-gloomy-democratic-election-landscape/2014/10/20/f86cb1b6-5862-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html>,
10/21/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she could
finish the economic recovery begun by Obama. *According to TPM, “Clinton
seems to have a handle of the line she wants to toe: Obama saved us from
worse economic struggles (as his defenders have been saying for years), but
the work isn't over. Implicit, of course, is that she -- if she runs --
would finish the job. ‘We haven't seen a full recovery from the economic
crash,’ Clinton said Thursday at CAP. ‘When the president came in, he
deserves an enormous amount of credit for staunching the bleeding and
preventing a further deterioration and getting us out of that ditch we were
in. But we know unless we change our policies, a lot of the benefits are
not going to be broadly shared.’ ‘It's not just about more jobs for more
people and better paying jobs,’ she said. ‘It's making sure that the people
themselves get to keep those benefits and build that future back that they
are so desperate to see for themselves.’" [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]

·         *In an interview with PBS this summer, Hillary *said
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/hillary-clinton-talks-hard-choices-battle-scars/#.U6t-JXR93NI.twitter>
*:* “Bill and I have had terrific opportunities, both of us…have worked
hard, but we’ve been grateful for everything that we’ve been able to
achieve, and sadly that’s just not true for most Americans today…It’s
important that we all try to figure out what we’re going to do, and that’s
what I’ve done my entire life, fighting for a higher minimum wage, or
family leave…equal pay for equal work…I think my record speaks for itself.”

·         *At a speech at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Hillary *said
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswp_KBBjdM>*:* “At the end of the day,
we’re all on the same team. We’re on the American team. And we’ve got to do
a better job of getting our economy growing again and producing results and
renewing the American Dream so that Americans feel that they have a stake
in the future and that the economy and the political system is not stacked
against them, because that will erode the trust that is at the basis of our
democracy.”

*TALKING POINTS: HILLARY CLINTON’S SPEAKING FEES*

*BACKGROUND:* *The right wing and certain media outlets have latched onto
recent reports of Hillary Clinton’s speaking arrangements and travel
logistics as some kind of faux proof she is out of touch. The reality is
that Hillary Clinton knows how blessed she is, she’s said that directly,
and that helps her fuel her life-long motivation for working hard to make
sure the American Dream is a real possibility for every child and every
family across our nation.*

   - Americans are givers. We are a generous nation, coming to the aid of
   those in need.  Americans want to hear from Hillary Clinton and she is
   crisscrossing the country, sharing her insights and her vision, and raising
   money for the life-changing programs funded by the Clinton Foundation.
   This philanthropy reflects Hillary’s belief in doing all she can to ensure
   everyone has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

   - The Clinton Foundation is a philanthropic organization that funds
   programs to help people throughout this great nation and all over the
   world.  Here are just a few examples of the life-changing programs funded
   by the Clinton Foundation:
      - Job One: helps young people find jobs.
      - Too Small To Fail: helps improve the health and well-being of
      children ages zero to five.
      - No Ceilings: helps encourage the full participation for women and
      girls in the 21st century.
      - Clinton Health Access Initiative: works to expand access to
      HIV/AIDS medications throughout the world.

   - Hillary Clinton has often said how blessed she felt by the success
   she’s had, noting it’s why she has and continues to focus on giving back so
   that every child, regardless of their circumstances, has the same
   opportunity for success.

   - That’s why the right wing is so obsessed with Hillary and Bill
   Clinton’s success.  Because unlike leading Republicans, the Clintons
   recognize that success is a blessing rather than an entitlement. For
   Hillary Clinton, that blessing is a reason to support and focus on policies
   that promote and share the opportunity with others, unlike leading
   Republicans who live beholden to special interests or abuse their power.

   - Republicans are launching these disingenuous attacks on Hillary
   Clinton for a reason. Republicans know that Hillary Clinton connects with
   Americans struggling for a greater opportunity. She offers ideas about a
   future that involves helping people. Meanwhile, the majority of would-be
   GOP front-runners are under investigation, indictment or on trial.

   - Hillary came from a middle-class background in middle America and
   she’s had the chance to live the American Dream.  That’s why she has
   focused her efforts, her life-long labors, to level the playing field of
   opportunity in our country.  As she said herself, the number one threat
   facing our democracy is a lack of opportunity for people who work hard and
   play by the rules to live a more prosperous life and provide a better
   opportunity for their children than what they had.

   - *“We know how blessed we are.  We were neither of us raised with these
   kinds of opportunities, and we worked really hard for them. …**All one
   has to do is look at my record going back to my time in college and law
   school to know not only where my heart is, but where my efforts have been.
   I want to create a level playing field so that once again, you can look a
   child in the eye and you can tell them the truth, whether they’re born in a
   wealthy suburb or an inner city or a poor country community; you can point
   out the realistic possibility that they will have a better life.”  *[The
   Hill, 6/25/14
   <http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/210576-were-clinton-comments-taken-out-of-context>
   ]

   - *Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees are in line with those of other
   political figures:*
      - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell collected “up to $200,000 a
      hit on the speaker circuit.” [Salon, 7/17/13
      <http://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of_hillary_clinton_and_8_other_political_heavies_partner/>
      ]
      - Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been paid $150,000
      to speak. [Minnesota Daily, 4/17/14
      <http://www.mndaily.com/news/campus/2014/04/17/protest-aside-condoleezza-rice-speaks-sold-out-crowd>
      ]
      - Rudy Giuliani charged a $270,000 fee for a speech at a private
      equity firm. [Salon, 7/17/13
      <http://www.salon.com/2013/07/17/the_buckraking_practices_of_hillary_clinton_and_8_other_political_heavies_partner/>
      ]
      - Former Pres. George W. Bush’s “standard speaking fee is reportedly
      between $100,000 and $150,000.” [Daily Beast, 5/20/11
      <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/05/20/george-w-bushs-15-million-speech-payday.html>
      ]
      - Former Gov. Jeb Bush’s “corporate speechmaking” – “more than 100
      since 2007” – “appears to have generated millions.” [New York Times,
      4/20/14
      <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/us/politics/jeb-bushs-rush-to-make-money-may-be-hurdle.html?_r=0>
      ]
      - Former VP nominee and Gov. Sarah Palin has charged $100,000 for her
      speaking fee. [Politico, 1/12/10
      <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31409.html>]

   - *Republicans are only launching these baseless attacks on Hillary
   Clinton to divert attention from their abuse of taxpayer funds for
   excessive travel:*
      - Republican Governor and potential GOP presidential candidate, Chris
      Christie, has frequently used state police helicopters for his
own personal
      travel, including the time he used a state police helicopter to get to a
      baseball game. [Asbury Park Press, 5/31/11]
      - Marco Rubio, another potential Republican presidential contender,
      charged non-work travel expenses on the state party’s credit card and
      double-billed taxpayers and the state party for multiple plane tickets.
       [St. Petersburg  Times, 10/22/10
      <http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/marco-rubios-personal-finances-clash-with-call-for-fiscal-discipline/1129566>
      ]
      - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has used taxpayer funds for
      motorcycle tours throughout Wisconsin and its surrounding states. [The
      Hotline, 4/6/10]

*STRATEGIC MEMORANDUM:                    **Lame Duck Period Brings Lame
Attacks*

*TO:
Interested Parties*

*FROM:
Isaac Wright, Executive Director     Correct The Record*

*DATE:
Tuesday, December 2, 2014*

*Lame-Duck Period Brings Lame Attacks*

During the lame-duck session of Congress following the midterm elections
and the new Republican Congressional majorities, and before the new year of
their antics begins, Republican strategists have set themselves to
attacking Hillary Clinton in a classically Karl Rove style, without the
substance to make a salient argument.

Although these lame-duck-period attacks lack the substance to connect with
Americans in a serious way, the strategic nature of the attacks demands
examination. The right wing is propping up lines of attacks on Clinton’s
speaking engagements and other points in an attempt to tear down Hillary
Clinton’s message of renewing American upward mobility. This is a classic
Karl Rove strategy
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/interviews/slater.html>
of
attacking an individual’s strength, rather than a weakness.

The right wing has pushed over a half-dozen storylines attacking Clinton
for her public speaking engagements in the weeks following the mid-term
elections and has tried to drive multiple other story lines in order to
create a false disconnect between Clinton and middle-class America. One
Washington Times columnist
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/28/bruce-fein-hillarys-doomed-presidential-candidacy/?page=all>
even
used Clinton’s speaking engagements and her financial successes as evidence
to declare her potential candidacy “doomed,” before she even makes a
decision.

*Why Make These Attacks*

In my November 6 memo <http://correctrecord.org/emerging-2016-themes/>
detailing
Clinton’s emerging themes of economic opportunity and advancing the middle
class, I noted the rise of these themes and their connections with a
cynical electorate.

“It is no doubt that Clinton herself resonates well with the American
people based on exit polling. For example, an exit poll conducted by CNN
showed
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/05/politics/midterm-election-5-takeaways/> that
‘83 percent of Democrats think that she would make a good President.’ Over
40 percent of midterm voters said Clinton would make a good president,
higher than for any of the four potential 2016 Republican candidates also
asked about in the NBC News national exit poll
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/US/house/exitpoll>*.* A
largely overlooked piece of exit polling
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/04/the-single-most-depressing-number-in-the-national-exit-poll/>
suggests,
in consideration of Clinton’s recent themes, why Americans are gravitating
to her vision. When asked about their expectations for the life of future
generations, 48 percent responded they expected life to be worse, 27
percent about the same and only 22 percent expected life for future
generations to be better.”

At a time when record numbers of voters are unsure whether or not things
will be better for the next generation than the current one, Clinton’s
message of a renewed American upward mobility is connecting. Clinton’s
extensive record of fighting for mobility and to advance the middle-class
becomes a prime target for the Republican apparatus nationwide looking to
attack her strengths.

*Correcting The Record*

Even as the right wing attempts to disparage Clinton’s deep connection with
the American middle class as a means to dilute her message of a renewed
American upward mobility, the reality of Clinton’s personal story, her
vision, and her record remains unshakeable.

*Clinton’s Personal Story*

Hillary Clinton was raised in a middle-class, suburban home in Illinois.
Raised as a Republican, she made her own decisions about politics and
policy to best fight for increased opportunities and a level playing field
for all Americans. Long before she entered political life, she took her
first job
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>
as
an attorney for the Children’s Defense Fund, following her passion for
opportunity and equality.

*Clinton’s Vision*

As she campaigned across the country this fall, Clinton laid out her core
principles for advancing the middle class, saying
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/hillary-clinton-jobs-comment-112225.html>,
“Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs create good-paying
jobs here in America and workers and families are empowered to build from
the bottom up and the middle out.”

She argued against “tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or
stash their profits overseas.”

*Clinton’s Record*

 ·         *Hillary Clinton has worked to expand *access
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
to
early childhood education for children of lower-income families.* As First
Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton introduced her husband to the HIPPY
program, which expanded early childhood education to economically
disadvantaged children. In the Senate, Clinton partnered with Kit Bond in
an effort to expand voluntary full-day pre-K for children from low-income
families. Today, as part of the Too Small to Fail Initiative to improve the
health and well-being of children five and under, Hillary Clinton is
working to close the “word gap” for kids in low-income families who often
have smaller vocabularies than their classmates.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton has worked to increase health coverage for
millions of *children
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
in
low-income and working families* through the State Children’s Health
Insurance Program, a program she helped created as First Lady. In the
Senate, Hillary Clinton looked for ways to strengthen the program,
introducing bills to allow states to expand it.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton’s record proves she believes that every
American should be able to earn an *equal
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
day’s
pay for an equal day’s work.* As a Senator, Hillary Clinton introduced the
Paycheck Fairness Act and was an original cosponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter
Fair Pay Act.

 ·         *In the Senate, Hillary Clinton *supported
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
increasing
the minimum wage* and voted repeatedly to protect and increase it. She was
an original cosponsor of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, and authored
the 2006 and 2007 Standing with Minimum Wage Act to tie Congressional
salary increases to an increase in the minimum wage.

 ·         *As a Senator, Hillary Clinton supported *progressive
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
tax
policies* that required millionaires to pay their fair share. She opposed
tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations in 2001 and 2003,
and she supported a variety of middle-class tax cuts, including tax credits
for student loan recipients, and keeping in place the tax cuts for those
who make under $250,000 a year.

o   Clinton said
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>
“that
inherited wealth and concentrated wealth is not good for America,” and she
has consistently voted against repealing the estate tax on millionaires,
doing so in 2001, 2002, and 2006.

 ·         *Hillary Clinton supported *working
<http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-a-lifetime-champion-of-income-opportunity-2/>*
families
going through difficult times through no fault of their own.* In the
Senate, she was a bipartisan leader in the fight to extend emergency
unemployment benefits.

*Conclusion*

It is important, now more than ever, not to cede one of Clinton’s greatest
strengths – her passion for advancing the middle class and renewing
American upward mobility – to the right-wing talking points factory and its
efforts to sow seeds of mistrust on the left. Democrats must not allow the
right wing to mount a new “swift-boat” campaign for 2016.

*BACKGROUND*

*Clinton On The Middle Class*

*HILLARY CLINTON’S RECENT STATEMENTS ON THE MIDDLE CLASS*

*In her many public appearances over the past year, Hillary Clinton has
continued to advocate for the middle class by sharing her vision all over
the country:*

·         *In a speech to a women-focused event for Democrat Tom Wolf,
“Clinton focused on ‘hard-working families’ and restoring America’s luster
and a strong middle class with ‘a fresh start.’”* According to Politico,
Clinton “gave one of her strongest political speeches since her 2008
campaign ended in June 2008 as she headlined a women-focused event for
Democratic gubernatorial Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania. Clinton focused on
‘hard-working families’ and restoring America’s luster and a strong middle
class with ‘a fresh start,’ as well as women’s pay equity and her gauzy
first days as a new grandmother. For the first time in months, Clinton’s
public talk was neither a dry recitation of public policy nor a
self-reflection about her tenure as secretary of state.” [Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/pennsylvania-governor-race-2014-tom-wolf-hillary-clinton-111760.html#ixzz3Fkai9jLu>,
10/9/14]

·         *Clinton’s language at a women-focused event for Democrat Tom
Wolf was “some of her strongest about rebuilding the middle class.”* According
to Politico, “The remarks were some of her strongest about rebuilding the
middle class. They came after she was accused of being out of touch for her
comment in June about being ‘dead broke’ when she left the White House, and
for giving paid speeches at exorbitant prices.” [Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/pennsylvania-governor-race-2014-tom-wolf-hillary-clinton-111760.html#ixzz3Fkai9jLu>,
10/9/14]

·         *The theme of Clinton’s speech at an event for Pennsylvania
gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf was working families.* According to
BuzzFeed, “The thread running through Clinton’s message here in
Pennsylvania, the state she won six years ago in a primary against Barack
Obama, was working families — a theme she teased repeatedly throughout her
speech with populist undertones, mentions of her granddaughter, and stories
about her own trips as a child to Scranton, where Clinton’s father, Hugh,
was born to a working-class immigrant family.” [BuzzFeed
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/hillary-clinton-finds-her-message#ukknyi>,
9/9/14]

·         *In Pennsylvania, Clinton criticized the power of corporations,
siding with middle-class families.* According to the Wall Street Journal,
“Though she and her husband have raised more than $1 billion from U.S.
companies and corporate officials over the last two decades*, *Mrs. Clinton
signaled that she sided with everyday families struggling to pay bills and
keep afloat. Corporations, she said, ‘seem to have all the rights, but none
of the responsibilities of people …’ She decried practices that pay women
less than men for the same work and took aim at politicians who’ve
belittled women’s rights. ‘A 20th century economy will not work for
21st century
families,’ she said.” [Wall Street Journal
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/10/09/hillary-clinton-blends-family-stories-populist-attacks-at-pennsylvania-rally/>,
9/9/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she would
fight to restore and re-open the middle class. *According to TPM, “The
notion of ‘upward mobility’ was central to Clinton's message to the New
American audience in May. She described it as ‘time-tested wisdom’ that was
‘at the heart of what I believe is the basic bargain of America.’… Here is
how Clinton described that basic bargain of America, as she sees it, in
May: ‘No matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard and
play by the rules, you’ll have the opportunity to build a good life for
yourself and your family.’" [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she can
address income inequality and gender inequality. *According to TPM, “So
income inequality has been a big part of the message. But it's also been
married to inequality between the sexes. At both the New American and CAP
events, the same factoid made an appearance: That three-quarters of jobs
that rely on tips -- like ‘waiters, bartenders and hairstylists’ as she
said on both occasions -- are held by women…. And she said Thursday that
these issues should be used to mobilize voters -- in the 2014 midterms and
moving forward.” [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]

·         *In recent speeches, Clinton has taken a tougher stance on big
business, likely in “an effort to find the balance between populism and her
familiar centrism” she may need in 2016, according to Reuters. *According
to Reuters, “Long viewed as an ally by Wall Street, likely 2016
presidential contender Hillary Clinton has increasingly been taking banks
and big business to task while on the campaign trail for Democrats across
the country.… This is a change of tone for the former New York senator, who
faced criticism for her Wall Street ties as recently as September, after
appearing with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein. Allies
and analysts see it as an effort to find the balance between populism and
her familiar centrism that Clinton may need in order to broaden her appeal
in a potential 2016 Democratic primary contest.” [Reuters
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/02/us-usa-elections-clinton-idUSKBN0IM0ED20141102>,
11/2/14]

·         *During a New Hampshire midterm event, Clinton discussed
expanding economic opportunity and raising the minimum wage. *According to
the Boston Globe, “Clinton spoke in New Hampshire about expanding economic
opportunity, raising the minimum wage, and protecting women’s rights. She
acknowledged that, across the country, there is ‘a lot of anxiety and
insecurity.’ But the former secretary of state and US senator from New York
struck a hopeful note: She bookended her remarks talking about her new
granddaughter and said seeing another generation in the family focuses the
mind on what’s important. Clinton said she and her husband were raised to
believe the American Dream was within your reach if you worked hard. ‘You
should not,’ Clinton told a packed gymnasium, ‘have to be the grandchild of
a governor or a senator or a former secretary of state or a former
president to believe that the American Dream is in your reach.’” [Boston
Globe
<http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/02/hillary-clinton-campaign-with-jeanne-shaheen-maggie-hassan-new-hampshire/rNXPdVMI3umCS97hOY5ytK/story.html>,
11/2/14]

·         *In midterm campaign appearances, Clinton has been echoing
populist notes. *According to Bloomberg, Clinton “has been sounding more
populist notes of late as a campaign-trail advocate for Democratic
candidates who are on the ballot next week. That's an important turn as she
contemplates a run for president in 2016 because Clinton's biggest weakness
among Democrats, and some Republicans, is the perception that she's too
close to Wall Street and corporate America…. And the more anti-corporate
tone is pleasing to the ears of liberals who have pined for Senator
Elizabeth Warren, a scourge of Wall Street banks, to challenge Clinton for
the Democratic nomination. And, they say, it's a message Clinton can use
against Republicans because many in the GOP have turned wary of Wall Street
and big corporations since the 2008 financial crash.” [Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-27/clinton-trickledone-economics-has-failed>,
10/27/14]

·         *During a midterm appearance in New York, Clinton clarified
earlier comments about companies and job creation, while maintaining the
same theme: “Clinton’s for the little guy.” *According to Bloomberg, “Days
after Republicans feasted on her claim that corporations don't create jobs,
Hillary Clinton tried Monday to ‘be absolutely clear about what I've been
saying for a couple of decades.’ ‘So-called trickle-down economics has
failed,’ Clinton said as she stumped for Representative Sean Patrick
Maloney in New York. ‘Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs
create good-paying jobs here in an America where workers and families are
empowered to build from the bottom up and the middle out–not when we hand
out tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or stash their profits
overseas.’ While campaigning Friday for Massachusetts gubernatorial
candidate Martha Coakley, Clinton created a stir–and drew criticism from
Republicans–by saying, ‘Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations
and businesses that create jobs.’…The cleaned-up message, though, hits at
the same theme: Clinton's for the little guy.” [Bloomberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-27/clinton-trickledone-economics-has-failed>,
10/27/14]

·         *While campaigning for Democrats in the midterm election, Clinton
frequently tells voters that “everyone deserves a second chance, a third
chance.” *According to a CNN, an investigation into Clinton’s most common
lines on the trail found that Clinton frequently tells voters, "‘Everyone
deserves a second chance, a third chance...’ Clinton has focused a great
deal on economic populism on the stump, an issue other Democrats thinking
about seeking the presidency in 2016 have started to tweak Clinton on.
‘Everyone deserves a second chance, a third chance to keep going and to
make something of themselves,’ Clinton said in Iowa earlier this year.
‘That was one of the most important lessons of my life.’ Clinton usually
uses the line to encourage compassion from a crowd, and to show that she
has compassion, too.” [CNN
<http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/politics/clinton-midterm-lines/>, 10/28/14]

·         *In a San Francisco speech, Clinton revealed some of what may be
her economic message: “Who’s on your side?” *According to the Washington
Post, “Here in San Francisco on Monday, Clinton gave a spirited call to
arms to Democrats as she road-tested what is likely to be her economic
message if she runs again. The November midterms, she said, come down ‘to a
simple question: Who’s on your side?’ She sounded close to her party’s
populist marrow when she decried the erosion of economic security for many
working Americans, and a long way from her tone-deaf remark earlier this
year about being ‘dead broke’ when she and Bill Clinton left the White
House in 2000. ‘It’s time to elect leaders who will fight for everyone to
get a fair shot at the American dream,’ Hillary Clinton said.” [Washington
Post
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-is-a-bright-spot-on-a-gloomy-democratic-election-landscape/2014/10/20/f86cb1b6-5862-11e4-bd61-346aee66ba29_story.html>,
10/21/14]

·         *Hillary Clinton’s speeches are revealing a theme that she could
finish the economic recovery begun by Obama. *According to TPM, “Clinton
seems to have a handle of the line she wants to toe: Obama saved us from
worse economic struggles (as his defenders have been saying for years), but
the work isn't over. Implicit, of course, is that she -- if she runs --
would finish the job. ‘We haven't seen a full recovery from the economic
crash,’ Clinton said Thursday at CAP. ‘When the president came in, he
deserves an enormous amount of credit for staunching the bleeding and
preventing a further deterioration and getting us out of that ditch we were
in. But we know unless we change our policies, a lot of the benefits are
not going to be broadly shared.’ ‘It's not just about more jobs for more
people and better paying jobs,’ she said. ‘It's making sure that the people
themselves get to keep those benefits and build that future back that they
are so desperate to see for themselves.’" [TPM
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-2016-economic-message>,
9/22/14]·         *In an interview with PBS this summer, Hillary *said
<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/hillary-clinton-talks-hard-choices-battle-scars/#.U6t-JXR93NI.twitter>
*:* “Bill and I have had terrific opportunities, both of us…have worked
hard, but we’ve been grateful for everything that we’ve been able to
achieve, and sadly that’s just not true for most Americans today…It’s
important that we all try to figure out what we’re going to do, and that’s
what I’ve done my entire life, fighting for a higher minimum wage, or
family leave…equal pay for equal work…I think my record speaks for itself.”

·         *At a speech at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, Hillary *said
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswp_KBBjdM>*:* “At the end of the day,
we’re all on the same team. We’re on the American team. And we’ve got to do
a better job of getting our economy growing again and producing results and
renewing the American Dream so that Americans feel that they have a stake
in the future and that the economy and the political system is not stacked
against them, because that will erode the trust that is at the basis of our
democracy.”

Women, Peace, and Security

*Hillary Clinton made promoting women’s rights a **signature part of her
tenure*
<http://articles.philly.com/2013-02-28/news/37354818_1_afghan-women-peace-talks-peace-negotiations>*
as
Secretary of State. She elevated their role in peacekeeping efforts and
helped inaugurate Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security.
Recently, she spoke about **security through inclusive leadership*
<http://www.georgetown.edu/news/hillary-clinton-security-inclusive-leadership.html>*,
saying, “Today marks a very important next step. Shifting from saying the
right things to doing the right things. Putting into action the steps that
are necessary to not only protect women and children but to find ways of
utilizing women as makers and keepers of peace.” As Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton fought to do just that.*

Elevated Role of Women as Peacekeepers

*Under Hillary Clinton, “tradition-bound” bureaus and agencies were pushed
“to think differently about the role of women in conflicts and
peacemaking.” *In her book *Hard Choices*, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton wrote, “We had to push tradition-bound bureaus and agencies to
think differently about the role of women in conflicts and peacemaking,
economic and democratic development, public health, and more. I didn’t want
[the Office of Global Women’s Issues] to be the only place where this work
was done; rather I wanted it to be integrated into the daily routine of our
diplomats and development experts everywhere.” [*Hard Choices*, pg. 567,
2014]

*Sec. Clinton “funded aid programs to train women leaders in developing
countries for government, civil society, and peace negotiations.” *“Last
week, Georgetown University inaugurated a new Institute for Women, Peace,
and Security to research the role of women in mitigating global conflicts.
The institute was first announced by former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, who made promotion of women’s rights a signature part of her
tenure. Clinton funded aid programs to train women leaders in developing
countries for government, civil society, and peace negotiations. Ambassador
Melanne Verveer, who will head the Georgetown institute - and ran Clinton’s
office for Global Women’s Issues - clearly hopes to build on that legacy in
her new role.” [Trudy Rubin, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/28/13
<http://articles.philly.com/2013-02-28/news/37354818_1_afghan-women-peace-talks-peace-negotiations>
]

*Sec. Clinton promoted investing in women and girls because they “build
peace and prosperity and political stability for everyone.” *“The United
States is committed to making women and their advancement a cornerstone of
our foreign policy not just because it’s the right thing to do. Investing
in women and girls is good for societies, and it is also good for the
future prosperity of countries. Women drive our economies. They build peace
and prosperity and political stability for everyone—men and women, boys and
girls.” [Statement on International Women’s Day, state.gov, 3/8/12
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2012/03/185483.htm>]

*Sec. Clinton: “When women participate in peace processes, they tend to
focus discussion on issues like human rights, justice, national
reconciliation, and economic renewal.” *In her book *Hard Choices*,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote, “When women participate in peace
processes, they tend to focus discussion on issues like human rights,
justice, national reconciliation, and economic renewal that are critical to
making peace. They generally build coalitions across ethnic and sectarian
lines and are more likely to speak up for other marginalized groups. They
often act as mediators and help to foster compromise. Yet despite all that
women tend to bring to the table, more often than not they’re excluded. Of
the hundreds of peace treaties signed since the early 1990s, fewer than 10
percent had any women negotiators, fewer than 3 percent had any women
signatories, and only a small percentage included even a single reference
to women. So it’s not too surprising that more than half of all peace
agreements fail within five years.” [*Hard Choices*, pg. 571, 2014]

*Sec. Clinton pushed equal participation for women in peace efforts in
countries affected by war, insecurity, and violence. *According to the
State Department website, the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and
Security (NAP) “seeks to ensure that women participate equally in
preventing conflict and building peace in countries threatened and affected
by war, violence, and insecurity. The Department’s implementation of the
NAP demonstrates its commitment to furthering the promotion of gender
equality in service of U.S. foreign policy and national security.”
[“Department of State Implementation of the United States National Action
Plan on Women, Peace, and Security,” state.gov, 8/15/12
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/08/196530.htm>]

*Sec. Clinton: “We must support women and girls” if we want to support
“stable, peaceful societies worldwide.”* “So if we want to support strong
democracies, thriving economies, and stable, peaceful societies worldwide,
we must support women and girls. And that means focusing on a wide range of
issues – from working to improve women’s leadership in industries where
they are currently underrepresented, as Australia has pledged to do in the
mining and construction industries, to enforcing and strengthening laws
that guarantee women’s equal political participation, as Senegal has
committed to do, to addressing once and for all the problem of nationality
laws that discriminate against women and leave they and their families
vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.” [Remarks at the Equal Futures
Partnership Launch, state.gov, 9/24/12
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2012/09/198115.htm>]
Coordinated National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security

*Sec. Clinton coordinated the development of the National Action Plan on
Women, Peace, and Security with USAID and the Defense Department. *In her
book *Hard Choices*, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote, “I spent
years trying to get generals, diplomats, and national security policymakers
in our own country and around the world to tune in to this reality. I found
sympathetic allies at the Pentagon and in the White House, including Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy and Admiral Sandy
Winnefeld, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. State, USAID, and
Defense got to work on a plan that would change the way diplomats,
development experts, and military personnel interact with women in conflict
and postconflict areas. There would be new emphasis on stopping rape and
gender-based violence and empowering women to make and keep peace. We
called it a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. In December
2011, President Obama issued an executive order launching the plan.” [*Hard
Choices*, pg. 572, 2014]

*Under Sec. Clinton’s leadership, America developed “its national action
plan to promote the essential role of women when it comes to securing
peace.”* According to a Courier-Journal op-ed by Kentucky state legislator
Mary Lou Marzian, “With the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, America joined the ranks of more than 30 countries in developing
its national action plan to promote the essential role of women when it
comes to securing peace. All of this started with a movement of women that
has risen up across the globe and has been developing through the United
Nations.” [Mary Lou Marzian, Courier-Journal, 8/25/12
<http://archive.courier-journal.com/article/20120826/OPINION04/308260026>]

*The National Action Plan better coordinated U.S. efforts to implement a UN
resolution on women and peacekeeping. *According to a State Department fact
sheet, “In this process, the United States has reaffirmed its support
for [UN Security Council Resolution] 1325 and decided to initiate
development of a National Action Plan to better coordinate and advance our
efforts. The plan will include regular consultation with civil society
groups in countries affected by conflict in recognition of their knowledge
and expertise in the promotion of peace. We also will continue to partner
with other countries, bilaterally and multilaterally, in support
of 1325 principles.” [“The United States and UN Security Council Resolution
1325: Promoting the Political Participation of Women in all Aspects of
Peace and Security,”state.gov, 10/26/10
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/10/150006.htm>]
*Secured Support for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 *

*Sec. Clinton helped lead the charge to implement UN Security Council
Resolution 1325, “the first ever to recognize the role of women in
restoring peace and maintaining security.”* According to Sec. Clinton’s
remarks on making human rights a human reality, “We led the charge for the
implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the first ever to
recognize the role of women in restoring peace and maintaining security. We
created a National Action Plan and encouraged others to do the same.”
According to the United Nations, “Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
stresses the importance of women’s equal and full participation as active
agents in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building and
peacekeeping.” [Remarks on Making Human Rights a Human Reality, state.gov,
12/6/12
<http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2012/12/201618.htm>; UN.org,
accessed 6/24/14 <http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/wps.shtml>]

*Made Fighting Sexual Violence a Peacekeeping Priority *

*Sec. Clinton achieved consensus in the UN to make ending sexual violence a
priority for global peacekeeping missions. *In her book *Hard Choices*,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote, “A little more than a month after
my trip to Goma, in late September 2009, I presided over a meeting of the
United Nations Security Council focused on women, peace, and security,
where I proposed making the protection of women and children from the kinds
of rampant sexual violence I witnessed in the Congo a priority for UN
peacekeeping missions around the world. All fifteen Council members agreed.
It wasn’t going to solve the problem overnight, but it was a start.” [*Hard
Choices*, pg. 282, 2014]

*Sec. Clinton “led the unanimous adoption of UN Resolution 1888,” which
mandated that “peacekeeping missions protect women and children from sexual
violence during armed conflict.” *“Secretary Clinton has long worked to
highlight the urgent need to end sexual violence against women and promote
their in participation in peace and security. She led the unanimous
adoption of UN Resolution 1888, the successor resolution to UNSCR 1325 and
1320.” According to the UN website, “Resolution 1888, as a follow up to
Resolution 1820, mandates that peacekeeping missions protect women and
children from sexual violence during armed conflict, and requests that the
Secretary-General appoint a special representative on sexual violence
during armed conflict (Office of the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict).” [“The United States and
UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Promoting the Political Participation
of Women in all Aspects of Peace and Security,” state.gov, 10/26/10
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/10/150006.htm>; UN.org, accessed
6/24/14 <http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/women/wps.shtml>]