Clinton looks to build support on left while keeping Wall St. friends [View all]

[RiverLover]

Clinton looks to build support on left while keeping Wall St. friends
The Hill 1/29/15

Hillary Clinton is working to shore up support on the left while not alienating her longtime supporters on Wall Street, as she moves closer to announcing a bid for the White House.

It’s a difficult balancing act for Clinton, who has many ties to the financial world from her time as a senator from New York and is expected to rake in significant cash from Wall Street during the campaign.

The former secretary of State has signaled in distinct ways that she wants to tie her campaign to calls for tackling income inequality and wage growth championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and the left wing of the Democratic Party. But she wants to accomplish this without coming across as a class warrior or enemy to her old friends.

In recent weeks, Clinton has been discussing how to thread the needle, according to allies. She’s sought out opinions from those on both sides of the Wall Street debate as part of a listening tour of sorts.

Not coincidentally, she’s indicated where she’s headed in her would-be campaign with a couple of messages on Twitter.

“Attacking financial reform is risky and wrong,” Clinton wrote on the social media network earlier this month. “Better for Congress to focus on jobs and wages for middle class families.”

A few days later, and minutes after President Obama finished delivering his State of the Union address, Clinton weighed in to say it “pointed [the] way to an economy that works for all” adding, “Now we need to step up [and] deliver for the middle class.” She used the hashtags “Fair Shot” and “Fair Share” to accompany her 140-character message.

Clinton’s recent stance is meant to assuage the left, which is itching for a candidate like Warren to enter the race and has expressed wariness of the former first lady.

“I think she’s moving there rhetorically,” said Michael Lux, the co-founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies, a consulting firm focused on building the progressive movement and their positions.

...The narrative began during the Clinton administration, when Bill Clinton presided over financial deregulation and picked Wall Street executive Robert Rubin to run the Department of Treasury.

...“If you say, ‘Is she on the Elizabeth Warren side or the other side,’ she’s much more left of center,” said one Clinton confidante who is familiar with her thinking on economic issues. “People should not confuse her long-term relationships with people in New York. She has personal relationships with a lot of these people. But that does not translate into being the Wall Street go-to person.”...

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/231102-clinton-looks-to-build-support-on-left-while-keeping-wall-st-friends