2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Hey, Middle Class: Hillary Gets It [View all]
Michael Tomasky
OK, we dont have many details yet, and she could work on the populist anger. But Hillary Clinton has identified the main economic crisis of our time.
Heres one thing Im sure of about the economic speech Hillary Clinton gave Monday morning at the New School: If a relatively unknown Democratic governor of Illinois or Michigan were running for president, and he gave the speech Hillary Clinton gave Monday morning at the New School, rank-and-file liberals would be turning rapturous cartwheels. She correctly identified the central economic problem of our time; she talked very clearly about the kinds of solutions shed pursue to address it; she even tossed a few threats in Wall Streets direction.
The problem is the wages of middle-class workers. The solutions are varied but boil down to a range of policies that would do two things: one, give corporations incentives to share profits and think less about short-term profit-maximization; two, help middle-class families meet the life expenses (college tuition, day care, etc.) that have increased greatly over the last 20 years while wages have remained stagnant. And as to Wall Streeters who gamble with middle-class peoples money, she said, We will prosecute individuals and firms who do so. She used the word criminal in this context more than once.
My hypothetical governor giving exactly this speech would be showered with liberal praise. But Clinton says it, and its like so what. She faces too much distrust from liberals over her past centrism; and for the moment everybodys all Bernie Bernie Bernie. And thats all fine. Sanders is fun and sometimes exhilarating, and a primary contest needs a candidate who can speak the unvarnished truth.
But its the speakers of varnished truth who usually win presidential nominations, and Clinton is at least 90 percent likely to win this one. And as varnished truths go in Democratic presidential politics, Clintons are about as liberal as any liberal could reasonably hope for. Theres an art to taking it right up to line, but not an inch past, and shes doing that.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/14/hey-middle-class-hillary-gets-it.html