4/18/15 Friends and Allies Talking Points

Friends and Allies Talking Points Hillary for America April 18, 2015 THE CORE MESSAGE Hillary Clinton is running because everyday Americans and their families need a champion and she wants to be that champion. From her start fighting for kids and families, she has done that all her life. She’s arguing that the deck is still stacked for those at the top – and that while corporations are raking in record profits and CEO pay is through the roof, everyday Americans are not getting ahead. It is their time to get ahead and stay ahead. At a community college in rural Iowa on her first campaign trip, Hillary laid out the “four fights” that will be central to her campaign in the coming months.  Building the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday  Strengthening families and communities  Fixing our dysfunctional political system  Protecting our country from threats. Most Americans know that the economy has come back from the collapse but they don’t feel like they are able to get ahead with stagnant wages and rising costs of living. They see those at the top benefiting from the improving economy and they are ready for it to be their turn. This election will be about who they can count on going forward – who can help them get ahead and stay ahead. Hillary’s entire life has been dedicated to fighting for the causes she believes in. She fought special interest forces all her career. Now, she’s running for president to continue that lifelong fight by being the champion that everyday Americans deserve.  Her mother was abandoned by her parents, which inspired Hillary’s conviction that every child deserves a champion. That’s what motivated her to work on behalf of kids and families at the beginning of her career and continues to be at the core of what drives her.  After law school, Hillary chose not to go to a big New York or Washington law firm. Instead, she went door to door in New Bedford, Massachusetts for the Children’s Defense Fund.  When the insurance companies and other special interests defeated her health care effort, as First Lady, Hillary didn’t give up. She worked with Republicans and Democrats to help create the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provided health coverage to more than 8 million children and cut the uninsured rate for American children in half.  After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hillary pushed the Bush Administration for $20 billion for recovery and to address health care for first responders who were contaminated at Ground Zero. Having grown up in a middle class family, Hillary has never forgotten where she comes from and who she’s fighting for. Hillary grew up in a middle class family in Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Her dad was a World War II veteran, he owned a small business, printing drapery, he operated the press himself, and Hillary and her two brothers helped out.

CAMPAIGN AND FIRST IOWA TRIP (4/15-4/16) Hillary started her campaign in a different way – not about her, but about the American people.  In Iowa, she went from small coffee shops to a community college and small business roundtables to have conversations and share ideas.  In her campaign, Hillary has a clear message for everyday Americans -- “it’s your time,” and she will continue to fight for a political system that makes it possible for every American families to get involved in politics and fix the problems that they see. Her first campaign trip was a road trip to Iowa, where she held small, intimate events across the state, listening to the concerns of everyday Iowans. This was the beginning of a campaign rooted in the early primary and caucus states – a campaign in which Hillary will take nothing for granted and work hard to earn every vote. She’s ready for the competitive Democratic primary that awaits her.  In Iowa, no Democratic candidate for president has ever received more than 50% of the caucus vote unless they were a sitting president, vice president, or Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.  In New Hampshire, no Democrat in a contested primary in the last 25 years has won by more than 27,000 votes or received more than 50% of the vote. The Iowa trip was met with widespread praise for her efforts to have one-on-one conversations with voters:  Republican Governor Terry Branstad praised Hillary Clinton’s Iowa trip: “I happen to think that the strategy of being accessible to people and going all over the state is a good strategy.”  Local high school student, Kaele Weber told CNN: 'The fact that she is coming to Monticello first, a small town in Iowa, she could have went to Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo…'I think it just means she is downhearted and just likes to care about the community and small town.'  Joe Klein, TIME: “I have watched her work for nearly 30 years and one thing I can say with confidence: the Hillary Clinton who began her presidential campaign in Iowa on Tuesday and listened carefully to a handful of people talk about the wonders of the local community college system is a familiar, uncynical and entirely credible character.”  Des Moines Register front page headline: “Clinton Vows She’ll Help People Get Ahead”  Buzzfeed’s Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) - This is probably as close to a genuine give-&-take as you can get in the presence of a few dozen reporters, TV cams, shutter clicks etc. The campaign will have the resources needed to compete, but it will be built with a flat fundraising structure, a key grassroots donor base and a merit-based finance organization. Initially fundraising will be a challenge – with lower limits and a smaller list than Obama in 2011.

 In 2011, the Obama campaign could raise $35,800 donations at the start because of joint fundraising agreements with the DNC. This campaign will raise $2,700 contributions for the primary because we’re focused on earning the nomination. POLICY AND RAMP-UP The campaign has just entered its “ramp up” period. This “ramp up” phase is the same organizationally as if she had an exploratory committee – time to build before getting into full swing - but without being coy about her intentions and pretending like she’s still exploring.  In May, she will outline more of her agenda and the ideas people have shared with her in a larger event that everyone can take part in. Hillary has a lot of policy ideas, and has spent a great deal of time over the past six months thinking about the problems facing our country and how to best tackle them but this “Ramp Up” comes first. Anyone who knows her knows that policy is core to who she is. But she doesn’t want to announce her agenda in speeches and press without hearing from everyday Americans about their concerns first. The top-notch senior policy team that Hillary has assembled underscores her commitment to tackling crucial issues with real policy prescriptions, and their areas of expertise dovetails with many of Clinton’s top priorities:  Jake Sullivan has served as a national security advisor to Vice President Biden, the director of policy planning at the US Department of State and as deputy chief of staff to Secretary Clinton, and played a key role in efforts to broker a deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear capabilities.  Ann O’Leary has served as a senior vice president and director of the children and families program at Next Generation, the executive director of the Berkley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security Program at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, and then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s legislative director.  Maya Harris recently left her post as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and was previously the VP of Democracy Rights and Justice at the Ford Foundation. Before that, she was the executive director of the nation’s largest ACLU affiliate and has practiced law as a civil litigator.