Subject: Re: Speech for tomorrow
From: Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>
To: H <[email-masked]>
Cc: Huma Abedin <[email-masked]>, Robby Mook <[email-masked]>, Jennifer Palmieri <[email-masked]>, Jake Sullivan <[email-masked]>, John Podesta <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 02:41:12 -0500

MS, I've received more feedback from the team and have given a close read
to your Toledo transcript.  Below is a revised draft (also sent to
Connolly) that I think has a bit more texture and richness.  Will keep at
it.
Dan

*HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON*

*“WE CAN’T WAIT”*

*INDIANOLA, IOWA*

*THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015*

   - Hello, Indianola!  I’m so excited to be with you today.  We’re
   energized, we’re organized, and we’re ready to go win a caucus!  I want
   to thank [*name*], our terrific organizer here.  She’s doing a great job.

   - And I want to thank all the precinct captains, union members, and
   volunteers who are here.  Raise your hand if you’ve made a phone call or
   knocked on a door for this campaign…  You are our heart and soul -- and
   you’re why we’re going to win on February 1st.

   - I am so grateful to all of you who’ve already decided to support me in
   the caucus.  If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll fill out one of our blue
   commitment cards.  If you’re still deciding who to support, I’m glad
   you’re here and I hope I can earn your vote.

   - Democrats have an important choice to make.  I have a lot of respect
   for Senator Sanders and Governor O’Malley and it’s good that we’re having a
   spirited debate.

   - But let’s not forget -- our differences pale compared to what we see
   on the other side.  One party is becoming defined by paranoia,
   prejudice, and greed.  The other is focused on creating good-paying jobs
   and holding Wall Street accountable.  That’s why I’m proud to be a
   Democrat.

   - Republicans want Americans to suffer from collective amnesia.  Well,
   we’re going to remind people of the facts – that the economy does a whole
   lot better when there’s a Democrat in the White House.

   - We’re going to build on the progress we’ve made and help more families
   get ahead and stay ahead.  Because when families are strong, America is
   strong.

   - For me, this is about more than politics.  I feel so blessed to have
   been born in this country to wonderful parents who gave me a great start in
   life.  I went to wonderful public schools with teachers that inspired me.
   I had the opportunity to go to college, which my mother never had.  America
   has given me so much.  And I feel passionately that it’s our
   responsibility to make sure future generations have even greater
   opportunities.

   - I know what it’s like to be knocked down.  I’ve had a few hard times
   in my own life.  I doubt there’s anybody here who hasn’t had their share.
   But I learned from my mom and my faith that it’s not whether you get
   knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.  And I’ve gotten back up
   time and time and time again… because as long as there’s work to do and
   people to help, I’m not going to quit.

   - You know why I’m so determined?  Because of you.  Because of the
   people I’ve met all across Iowa.  You’ve shared your hopes and your
   heartaches.  I’ve heard the problems that keep you up at night and the
   dreams that get you up in the morning.

   - I met a gentleman the other day in Cedar Rapids who told me that his
   prescription drug costs had tripled. I met a mom at that same event who
   said that her son has diabetes and even insulin is getting much more
   expensive – insulin’s not some fancy new drug, it’s been around forever.
   The only reason is greed.

   - Last month in Waterloo, a worried husband named Larry told me his wife
   Brenda spends hundreds of dollars each month on medicine for arthritis and
   osteoporosis.  When they see hedge fund tycoons buying drug companies
   and raising prices by 4000 percent overnight, they just want to scream.

   - Something is wrong when your paycheck has barely grown in years, but
   corporate profits and CEO pay are at near-record highs.  Something is
   wrong when you can do everything right, but still not get ahead.  Like
   Brandi from Des Moines, who was laid off six years ago.  She went back
   to school, worked hard, got her degree.  Now she’s a supervisor in a
   restaurant, but still only makes $9.50 an hour.  That’s not enough,
   especially with kids.

   - Brandi needs a raise.  Larry and Brenda need lower drug prices.  People
   across Iowa need more good jobs, help with their student debt, a more
   secure retirement.

   - These are the problems I’m focused on.  I get up every day thinking
   about how we’re going to make a difference for people and families who
   really need it.

   - That’s what I’ve done my whole life, starting with my first job going
   door-to-door for the Children’s Defense Fund.  Whether it was working
   with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to create the Children’s Health
   Insurance Program that now covers 8 million kids, or securing a treaty with
   Russia that reduces the threat we face from nuclear weapons – for me it’s
   always about getting results.  I’m not interested in ideas that sound
   good on paper but will never make it in the real world.  What I care
   about is making a difference in your life.

   - That gets us to the choice you have to make in this caucus. I have
   nothing but admiration for Senator Sanders, but we *do* have different
   records and different ideas about how to drive progress.

   - Take health care, for example.  I want us to defend and build on the
   progress we’ve made under President Obama, especially the Affordable Care
   Act.

   - Remember what it was like before Obamacare?  The insurance companies
   were in charge and free to discriminate against people with pre-existing
   conditions.  They charged women more for the same coverage.  And 44
   million Americans didn’t have any coverage at all.

   - I don’t think President Obama gets the credit he deserves for taking
   on this fight and getting the job done.  Today, more than 90 percent of
   Americans are insured.  I want to build on that progress.  Keep
   expanding coverage to more people.  Lower your out-of-pocket costs with
   a new tax credit.  Cap what you have to pay each month for prescription
   drugs.  Finally let Medicare negotiate better prices.

   - We can get this done without another divisive debate on our entire
   health care system or giving Republicans an opening to come in and tear
   down everything we’ve achieved.  We can make real progress right now for
   people and families who need it.

   - Senator Sanders has a different approach.  He cares deeply about
   covering more people, as I do.  But rather than build on the progress
   we’ve made, he wants to start over from scratch with a whole new system.
   In theory, there’s a lot to like about his ideas.  But “in theory” isn’t
   enough.  A President has to deliver *in reality*.

   - Senator Sanders has been in Congress for 25 years and he’s introduced
   his health care plan again and again.  But he never got even a single
   vote in the House or a single Senate co-sponsor.  Not one.

   - You hear a promise to build a whole new system, but that’s not what
   you’ll get.  You’ll get gridlock …and an endless wait for advances that
   will never come.

   - The people I’ve met in Iowa can’t wait.  The grandmother who has to
   choose between paying for medicine and paying the rent can’t wait.  The
   single mom who desperately needs a raise can’t wait.  The student with a
   mountain of debt can’t wait.  You can’t wait and neither can our country.
   We need to roll up our sleeves and start making progress right now.

   - More gridlock in Washington won’t help anyone.  Except maybe the
   Republicans who are looking for any opportunity to take us backwards.  We
   just can’t take that risk.

   - Across the board, we have to defend the progress we’ve made under
   President Obama and go even further.

   - My economic plan will raise incomes and create good-paying jobs right
   away.

   - First of all, I’ll fight for more *fairness* in our economy.   Let’s
   make those at the top pay their fair share.  Because multi-millionaires
   and companies that ship jobs overseas shouldn’t get tax breaks – *you*
   should.

   - Let’s stop the abuse on Wall Street and make sure that if you break
   the law, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to jail.  Let’s
   enforce our trade rules and stop letting countries like China take
   advantage of American workers and businesses.

   - In America, if you work hard, you deserve to see the rewards.  So
   let’s raise the minimum wage, expand Social Security for those who need it
   most, and finally guarantee equal pay for women.

   - And we can’t stop there.  More fairness is essential, but it’s not
   enough.  We also need more *growth* in our economy – more jobs, more new
   businesses, higher wages.

   - We have to invest in advanced manufacturing so we’re making and
   building things *here*, not somewhere else.  Modernize our roads,
   bridges, ports, and airports.  Create the clean energy jobs of the
   future—because it’s going to be China or Germany or us, and I want it to be
   us.  Iowa already gets a third of its energy from renewables, mostly
   wind.  If you can do it, so can America.

   - We can do this.  We can make our economy stronger and our country
   fairer.  But we have to do it together.

   - The truth is, too many people today feel left out and left behind.  That’s
   not the America we want to be.

   - Instead of demonizing hard-working immigrant families, we should be
   giving them a real path to citizenship.  Instead of a school-to-prison
   pipeline that keeps communities of color down, we need a cradle-to-college
   pipeline that lifts people up.

   - We have to end discrimination against LGBT Americans wherever it
   exists.  And I’ll always defend Planned Parenthood.  Republicans may say
   I’m playing the gender card.  Well, if fighting for women’s health and
   women’s rights is playing the gender card – then *deal me in*.

   - We also can’t turn our backs on working-class families in struggling
   rural communities and crumbling Appalachian towns… in Coal Country and Farm
   Country… families who for generations worked their fingers to the bone
   keeping our lights on and our factories running and our crops growing.

   - So many are hurting right now.  In a lot of places, people are dying
   younger than their parents.  The substance abuse I hear about everywhere
   I go in Iowa and across our country is a big part of it.  But you know
   what my husband said to me the other day?  He said folks feel the
   American Dream slipping away -- and *they’re dying of a broken heart*.

   - I think Bill’s right.  I hear it in the voices of parents who don’t
   know how they’re going to give their kids the opportunities they deserve.
   I see it in the eyes of people who don’t expect anything to come easy
   but wonder why it has to be quite so hard.

   - We’re going to give the American Dream back to them. We’re going to
   make this economy work for everyone – the struggling, the striving, and the
   successful.  That will be my mission as President, from the first day to
   the last.

   - Now, we’re not just picking a President, we’re also choosing a
   Commander-in-Chief.  I’m the only candidate on either side with the
   experience and judgment to keep us safe at home and strong in the world.

   - The Republican candidates keep asking about my accomplishments, so I
   sent them all a copy of my book, “Hard Choices.”  I figured there were
   so many of them, they could start a book club.

   - They could read about how I got Russia and China to agree to tough new
   sanctions on Iran.  Or how I brokered a cease-fire between Hamas and
   Israel that stopped terrorist rockets from falling on Israeli homes.  Maybe
   they’d be interested in how you push for a global agreement on climate
   change… oh who are we kidding, they don’t care about that at all!

   - Well, it’s all in the book.  But I didn’t get a single thank you note.
   And based on what they’re saying on the campaign trail, it doesn’t seem
   like they learned very much.

   - Promising to carpet bomb until the desert glows doesn’t make you sound
   strong – it makes you sound like you’re in over your head.  Bluster and
   bigotry are not credentials for becoming Commander-in-Chief.  And it
   would be a huge mistake to send U.S. combat troops into another costly
   ground war in the Middle East.

   - Now, Senator Sanders doesn’t talk very much about foreign policy.  But
   when he does, it raises concerns, because sometimes it sounds like he’s
   hasn’t really thought it through.  For example, he suggested we invite
   Iranian troops into Syria.  That’s like asking the arsonist to be the
   firefighter.  As terrible as things are in Syria, more Iranian troops
   are only going to make things worse.

   - The world a President has to grapple with is beyond complicated, both
   at home and abroad.  That’s why this is the hardest job in the world.  I’ve
   seen it up close and personal.  And I know what it takes.

   - I know how to find common ground and how to stand my ground.  I teamed
   up with Republicans like Tom Delay to improve our foster care system and
   Lindsey Graham to extend health benefits for our National Guard and
   Reserves.  We had deep disagreements.  But we found a sliver of common
   ground.  And that made life better for a whole lot of people.

   - You can also count on me to stand my ground.  Like how I’m taking on
   the gun lobby in this campaign.  We’re losing an average of 90 Americans
   every day to gun violence.  It’s wrong, it has to stop, and I won’t back
   down no matter what they throw at me.

   - But I can’t do any of this alone.  *I need you*.  On February 1st,
   it’s up to *you.*  You have to decide who you trust to make a real
   difference in your lives.  So I need you knocking on doors and making
   phone calls. I need you caucusing on February 1st.  And I need you
   standing with me every day as President, working to build that better
   America.

   - Please join me.  You can text JOIN to 4-7-2-4-6 right now.  And then
   visit hillaryclinton.com.  Talk to your friends and family.  Talk to
   your neighbors.  Make sure they’re all going to caucus on February 1st.

   - The pundits might be surprised that this race is close, but I’m not.  I
   never doubted that I’d have to work for every vote.  I never doubted
   that I’d face tough attacks.

   - I don’t care how hard Karl Rove or the Koch Brothers hit us.  I’ve
   spent my life working for children, families, and our country… from the
   kitchen table to the peace table… working to even the odds for people who
   have the odds stacked against them.  And I’m just getting warmed up.

   - I believe that progress *is* possible in America because I’ve seen it.
   I remember going to the Children’s Hospital in Cleveland during our
   battle for health care reform in the ‘90s.  I met with a group of
   parents who could not get insurance for their sick children because of
   their pre-existing conditions.  One father of two little girls, both of
   whom had cystic fibrosis, told me the insurance company said, “Sorry, we
   don’t insure burning houses.”  He looked at me with with tears in his
   eyes and said, “They called my little girls burning houses.”  Today,
   because of the Affordable Care Act, those kids can get the coverage they
   need.

   - Democrats started fighting for universal health care under Harry
   Truman and we never quit.  That’s how progress gets made.  You keep
   going.  When you get knocked down, you get back up and push even harder.
   Step-by-step, day-by-day, you keep going, keep building.

   - That’s what our next President has to do. I know how to build on the
   progress we’ve made.  My opponent’s ideas are a recipe for gridlock, not
   action.  The American people can’t afford that.  You shouldn’t have to
   wait for results.  You shouldn’t have to wait for lower drug prices.  You
   shouldn’t have to wait for higher wages or help with college loans.  You
   shouldn’t have to wait to start that small business or to enjoy a secure
   retirement.

   - *You* brought our country back from the worst economic crisis in our
   lifetimes.  Now it’s *your* time to get ahead.  And, you know what?  America
   succeeds when you succeed.

   - So, I want to thank you and all the people of Iowa.  I’ve had the
   opportunity to listen to thousands of Iowans.  You’ve shared your concerns,
   your worries, your hopes, your dreams.  Thanks to you, if I become
   President, I will be a better one, a more informed one, someone who really
   understands first hand from you what we have to do in our country.  For
   that, I thank you.  For all you have meant to me and all you have taught me.

   - Iowa, I’m listening to you, I’m fighting for you, and, with your help,
   as President I’m going to deliver.

###

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 10:03 PM, Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]
> wrote:

> Madam Secretary, following up on the outline from yesterday, here is a
> full draft. (Also sent to Connolly for printing.)  The core argument
> remains that you have the experience to get results while Sanders' ideas
> are a recipe for gridlock, and Americans can't afford to wait.  As much as
> possible, I've drawn from language that you've used either on the stump or
> in speeches like the Wing Ding or in debate prep, especially lines that got
> good applause in the past.  This also reflects the conversation I had with
> your husband yesterday and what he said in NH today. Nick also shared a
> little of what you said at your event this evening and I will get that
> transcript shortly.
>
> This draft is still something of a work in progress and the rest of the
> team is reviewing as well, but I know time is short and I wanted to get to
> you as soon as possible.  So will be standing by for your thoughts and also
> continuing to edit back here.
> Thanks
> Dan
>
>
>