Courting Liberals, Hillary Clinton Takes Tough Line on Business
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE
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.
Many Democratic strategists see the sharper rhetoric as an effort to win over liberal critics, such as supporters of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. It comes days before Tuesday's midterm elections and as Clinton ramps up her political activity ahead of a probable White House bid.
Al has pushed for more and better oversight of the big banks and risky financial activity, Clinton said in support of Senator Al Franken in Minnesota in late October.
There's a lot of unfinished business to make sure we don't end up once again with big banks taking big risks and leaving taxpayers holding the bag, she said, in the starkest example yet of her populist turn.
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 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.
What she's trying to do, really, is find her message. This is something that she struggled with in 2008 (while losing the Democratic nomination battle to Barack Obama), and she really didn't have to do it as secretary of state, said Brookings Institution campaign expert John Hudak.
She's trying to thread the needle, to say to progressives, 'I'm your candidate,' but also say to Iowa Democrats, 'I'm your candidate, too.'
Clinton, who was secretary of state from 2009-2013, has not declared her candidacy, although supporters have built a national campaign structure to await a presumed run. She says she will decide whether or not to run early next year and for now she is campaigning for others, largely in states where Obama is unpopular. Sunday's New Hampshire swing comes after Saturday stops in Louisiana and Kentucky.
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Courting Liberals, Hillary Clinton Takes Tough Line on Business