Hillary, some campaign advice, if I may. Thanks

[RobertEarl]

You are the top woman politician in our country.

You have been around the world as our Secretary of State, and before that a US Senator, and before that privy to the ongoings in the White House, so your vast experience is extraordinary.

As a life long observer of the political campaigns in the US, and an activist in several fields, I have keenly observed your actions, and am not repulsed.

However, witnessing your resent day campaign is quite disconcerting. Most recently, news of your coming speech about your economic plan has me scratching my head and wondering just who is advising you.

Herewith is my short missive to you about what I would like to see come from your campaign:

In your unique position as a government employee and as a woman, it does seem you can best speak to the social inequalities over 2/3 of the citizens suffer from.

Chief among these items are lack of good health care that is affordable, environmental damages and climate change, and the imprisoning of so many family income providers.

We would all benefit from your giving close attention to these social issues in your campaign, thereby bringing these matters to the attention of your rich donors as they are to blame for most of the aforementioned social inequalities.

Thanks for listening, and have a nice day.

[tularetom]

1. She'll have to run that by her focus group mavens and political opinion gurus to see if she can

I predict that she will acknowledge your concern, remind you that her whole adult life has been dedicated to concerns for the welfare of middle class Americans and then tell you that she will have more to say about that at some undetermined date in the future.

And that will be the last you ever hear about it.

[daleanime]

8. +1

[restorefreedom]

19. word. n/t

[underthematrix]

2. Good thing HRC has well educated well read intelligent people to

rely on for policy development, analysis and recommendations.

[RobertEarl]

4. True. Close to the 1%ers

What my op was about was concerning the 2/3 of the country that doesn't even have a chance to climb the economic ladder. And the 99% of the world that is suffering from the excesses and demands of the 1%.

So... I don't think its a good thing; all she has delivered so far is something about being spread down on by those higher up the ladder. And I am saying it is her so called 'well educated and well read' advisers who must be to blame for her ignoring these social issues.

[Le Taz Hot]

25. That would be ". . . well-educated, well-read, intelligent people . . ."

I mean, since we're on the "well-educated, well-read, intelligent people" theme here I would think the ability to write the English language in a coherent manner would fit right in there, wouldn't you say?

[Walk away]

3. The last I heard the majority donors to Clintons canpaign gave $100 or less.

So I would be included in that group. I am pretty happy about the rate that Hillary is addressing issues. I doubt that she needs to consult you about when she gives a speech and on what subject.

Secretary Clinton's supporters come from every socio-economic group and we feel very confident that she is listening to us and is more than capable of winning the primary, winning the presidency and (using her power, influence and money) will help fill Congress with Democrats.

[RobertEarl]

5. But you agree?

She is focusing more on economic issues and not social issues.

[JaneyVee]

9. You mean besides all the recent speeches she's given on social issues?

Every issue you brought up she has been addressing.

[RobertEarl]

12. Addressing....

She is for the pipeline which will further the use of dirty fossil fuels from Canadian tar sands.

She is against Canadian style single payer health care.

She is for the continuation of the drug wars which lead to prison for way too many black men.

[Walk away]

11. I'm pretty sure we don't agree at all. You must be refering to Bernie's focus!

So far all he talks about is money. His big departure from banks has been the cost of cable TV. Oh right, he marched on Washington 50 years ago and that somehow qualifies him as being a champion for the rights of minorities. I can see why he has nothing memorable to say about civil rights for what? Five decades??? Why would he bother?

[RobertEarl]

14. Whoa, dude

You are mad at Bernie because he can talk about two different issues in the same day?

And that he wants to end the drug wars which is the main social cause of the disintegration of minority families?

And that he wants a real deal jobs program that means jobs for minorities?

I don't think you know much about Bernie. I doubt you would so publicly display such ineptness as regards him, if you truly did.

[Walk away]

17. I'm not mad at Bernie. I understand that he has to put his entire....

message out there day after day because most people aren't listening to him. Not one of the multitude of republican candidates even bothers to mention him.
Hillary Clinton is basically putting out policy statements in a timely manner. She doesn't need to address every issue on day one. Everyone pays attention when she speaks. Not just because she has name recognition and certainly not because she has "bought" the press (otherwise we would never hear about emails and Benghazi and the horrors wrought by the Clinton's charitable organization) but because she is brilliant, powerful, knowledgeable and experienced.
She has months to lay out her complete agenda. She is running a thoughtful and well run campaign and doesn't need to gin up the base. This is not a horse race for her. That will come next summer.
Most of what she has presented so far has been in line with Bernie's thoughts on how things should be run. The difference is that she may actually be able to effect some of that change with the help of the Democratic party she has worked so long and hard to preserve and grow.

[RobertEarl]

20. That's just it.

Indeed. You nailed it:

"....she has worked so long and hard to preserve and grow."

And we have global warming, a bad economy, and riots. I'd say good job Hillary, but I don't agree with you that she has been very effective in helping America with its problems.

We should try something new by electing someone new to the presidency.

Feel. The. Bern.

[Walk away]

23. I hadn't realized that Hillary had ever been the President before!

If "feeling the Bern" means taking someone seriously who blames the evils of the world on Hillary Clinton then I doubt that I ever will!

Hasn't Bernie Sanders been in the Senate since dinosaurs roamed the Earth? He doesn't seem to have helped much, in fact hardly at all! Although, I might be a little impressed if he contributes to lowering my cable bill but it's hardly a reason to vote for him the Presidency!

I believe that Bernie is doing a great job as a foil for Hillary. I think Biden would at least have given her a better run but, at least here at DU, he provides the illusion of a contested primary. Feel the Burn!

[bowens43]

6. My advice to Hillary : if you love your country quit now.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. My advice to HRC is keep doing what you are doing because you represent Rousseau's general will...

[starroute]

10. That's what was also said about Hitler

Rousseau is tricky. You can derive either democracy or totalitarianism from his philosophy. But using him to tell on candidate to "keep doing what you are doing" seems to veer too close to the fascist implications of a leader figure who can do whatever they want with no need for public approval because they themselves are the embodiment of the people.

[mythology]

24. Except Hillary hasn't claimed to be the embodiment of the people

We have free polls and elections, and right now Hillary is leading in those. She's not plotting a putsch.

[Aerows]

13. Her entire campaign so far

has made my teeth itch and my ears are under assail by fingernails on chalkboards.

I don't know who is advising her, but they are doing the worst possible job they can.

Maybe it is on purpose, and they don't want her to get elected either, but so far - eek.

[zappaman]

15. I'm sure she'll give this the attention and thought it so richly deserves.

[Aerows]

16. I like Hillary and supported her in 2008

But she has that icky vibe of Wolf of Wall Street.

I know candidates have to do things to get elected, but she isn't going in the right direction. If we keep relying on Hillary, the Democratic party might torpedo itself.

Who the hell is advising her, and why on earth are they so inept?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. How dare she begin her campaign focusing on immigration reform and criminal justice reform...

How dare she begin her campaign focusing on immigration reform and criminal justice reform, issues of importance to African American and Latino Democrats, and ignore the war of the top ten percent on the top one percent? Not only is she addressing the right issues she is addressing the issues where the votes are.

[a kennedy]

21. Just heard on Lawrence O'Donnell show....Hillary is NOT having any fun running.....

she's to serious, needs to loosen up, needs to relax, needs to have fun. Just a guy that was Romney's head guy. But it's true...she doesn't look comfortable in her skin. She needs to just be Hillary. Even though I'm with Bernie, I want Hillary to be better.

[RobertEarl]

22. I'd like to see her tackle big social issues

Campaigns are a great place to offer up new, out-of-the-box solutions.

[kenfrequed]

26. She is out of her comfort zone.

I think her campaign was assured that this time around there would only be token opposition to her candidacy. Having to actually respond to the presence of Bernie Sanders on the ticket is something she did not expect. Having to earn the votes of the left and progressives is something she was not happy having to do.

Fear of the republicans was supposed to be enough to get her the nomination but it is possible that her campaign never quite figured out how angry and oppositional to conservative-wallstreet we progressives have become. Many of us were never entirely satisfied with the idea of Hillary Clinton last time around and thought she was a bit too friendly with business. In a period after a financial collapse, and citizens united, and trade deals, we have begun to see a spiralling away from the interests of workers and average citizens and a movement towards increased corporatization.

Secretary Clinton has been running for the presidency for nearly a decade now and her campaign has been effective at attempting to access the mood of the democratic party without getting to the specifics in terms of policy. She gives us a lot of platitudes but has been shy on specifics (until very recently) of policy.

Even her policies aren't really that aggressive in terms of change and seem more directed at giving a thousand dollars or so for each employee that a business trains. The problem with this is that it only encourages businesses already providing training to apply for that money for existing programs in place. It really doesn't solve the problem and tax credits to businesses are among the worst ways to stimulate economic growth. In this way, her economic solutions actually are more regressive and less ambitious than President Clinton's were in the 90's.

The difficulty I have is that all the people calling on me to be pragmatic in supporting her either don't seem to pay attention to the contrasts in policy between Clinton and her chief rival or they don't mean for me to pragmatically vote in my own interest.

[ibegurpard]

27. well said