Subject: Favreau
From: Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>
To: John Podesta <[email-masked]>, Robby Mook <[email-masked]>, Jennifer Palmieri <[email-masked]>, Jake Sullivan <[email-masked]>, Kristina Schake <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:35:42 -0500

Sharing this advice from Favreau, for what it's worth.  As you know, much
of this is very much in line with my own thinking over the past several
months. And I'd say he raises useful cautions about not letting our
"breaking barriers" message become a recitation of interest groups or isms,
and not letting "the math doesn't add up" critique turn her into a wet
blanket.  That said, I think he's undervaluing the importance of keeping a
strong economic thrust at the heart of our message... anyway, food for
thought.

Begin forwarded message:

*From:* Jon Favreau <[email-masked]>
*Date:* February 18, 2016 at 1:34:04 PM EST
*Subject:* *Hillary *

Very scattered thoughts, starting with a few things I've read and seen that
made me think "Ah, this should be her message":

1. The awesome DREAMer video you guys put out

2. The race speech

3. This David Brooks column (I know, I know, I'll go kill myself):
http://nyti.ms/1KTjYqJ

4. The Love and Kindness story

Her most important job right now is to inspire people, and generate
enthusiasm. And she will not succeed by playing the pragmatist to Bernie's
idealist. No young person - no any person - who isn't the most committed
voter will head out to the polls or knock on doors for someone who tells
them that they should have more realistic expectations for what politics
can achieve (even though they should!). In 2008, we would purposely bait
her into playing the wet blanket so we could turn around and whack her for
it. The line from the New Hampshire primary night speech, "In the unlikely
story of America, there has never been anything false about hope" was a
direct retort to Hillary's line about Obama "giving everyone false hopes."
And it was devastating.

Far more effective has been what she's been doing recently - saying that
Bernie is a single issue voter and that there are a lot more issues at
stake than Wall Street. This idea that class is the only divide and
economic issues are all that matter is a very white male centric view of
the world (a Bernie Bro view, if you will). It also reminds me of the
hilarious joke that Brian Buetler keeps making every time some asshole says
something horribly racist about Obama or sexist about Hillary or prejudice
about immigrants and Muslims - oh, let's not blame them, they're just
economically anxious.

People are of course economically anxious, and Bernie is tapping into that
very well. But that's only half the equation. They're also being told to
blame other groups for all their problems - blacks, gays, immigrants,
Muslims, women, political correctness, etc. Fighting that intolerance and
divisiveness is just as important as fighting inequality - arguably more so
in this election because Trump has made it the defining issue. And she is
way better equipped and qualified to make that argument than Bernie is.
That's true because she's a woman. That's true because she was America's
chief diplomat. That's true because she's fought for these issues her
entire life.

As far back as Audacity of Hope, Obama often talked about our ability to
coexist peacefully in a shrinking world as a central challenge of the 21st
century. Bill Clinton used to talk about interdependence on one another as
our central mission.

Hillary can pick up the mantle here in a very inspiring way. She just has
to tweak it and be careful that it doesn't sound like she's listing off
interest groups - here's my black speech, here's my Latino policy, here's
my woman's event, etc. She needs to combine her policies with her record
with a vision of the country and the world where we're stronger together
than we are divided against each other. That's different than "stronger
together than we are on our own," which would be more of a Bernie/Obama '12
message that's all about right-wing economics. This is an evolution of that
message that's primarily a response to the intolerance and bigotry of Trump
and the right.

She should be talking about love and kindness. She should be talking about
mutual respect and tolerance. She should be talking about rebuilding the
bonds of community and rebuilding friendships, not just between nations,
but between people all over the world. Not just compassion for compassion's
sake - but because we're stronger when we're pulling together' when
everyone feels like they're part of the team.

It reminds me of one of my favorite passages from any speech - Cuomo's 84
convention address:

"It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The difference between
Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and
confidence. The Republicans -- The Republicans believe that the wagon train
will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young,
some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. "The strong" --
"The strong," they tell us, "will inherit the land."

We Democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can
make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than
once. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to
lift this nation from its knees -- wagon train after wagon train -- to new
frontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly
reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; lifting them up into the
wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics, and people of every ethnic group,
and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and
claim some small share of America. For nearly 50 years we carried them all
to new levels of comfort, and security, and dignity, even affluence. And
remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this
nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that."

Who better to deliver that message than First Lady-turned-Secretary of
State who could become America's first female president?