Today's edition of Hillary News & Views finds presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visiting Detroit and playing the gender card, while the diversity of her campaign staff and her capital gains tax reforms are analyzed in depth. As always, direct quotes from Clinton are in bold.
Let's start with that trip to Detroit, which went beyond just enjoying dessert and a conversation with the local residents.
As USA Today reports, Clinton used the visit to Sweet Potato Sensations to highlight how a successful small business startup by a hometown couple can help to revitalize the local economy:
"I want to be the small-business president," Clinton told reporters during her visit to Sweet Potato Sensations in the Old Redford neighborhood on Detroit's west side.
"I'm making a real point of identifying and visiting small businesses that are successful — sometimes against the odds — but are providing a service or product that people in their communities are buying up, and giving a good base for growth. And that's what we need to do more of."...
Clinton spent time talking to owners Jeffrey and Cassandra Thomas, who were thrilled that she decided to eat there. Clinton also glad-handed patrons, many of whom were eager to see her. Some even came back to the restaurant when they were told she would be arriving later.
"She's trying to help small businesses because that's what fuels the economy," Jeffrey Thomas said. "I was very impressed."...
She also promised to pay more attention to "moving obstacles and barriers so that more people can have the kind of success we've seen here," and added that "the more we can bring people back into working on behalf of their own futures and the neighborhoods they live in and the communities they're a part of, that's what's going to bring back cities like Detroit."
The Detroit News has posted
a video interview from the campaign stop, where Clinton talked about efforts to revitalize Detroit, including
Blight Busters, and reiterated her hopes and concerns about the TPP trade deal:
Where do you see Michigan in this race?
Michigan's always important. To me, personally, and I think to the country. And I've seen a lot of the efforts - I was talking to the Blight Busters, a man back there - I've seen a lot of community efforts, the coordinated commitment from government to business and civic groups and individuals, homeowners, philanthropy - to really make a big commitment to Detroit.
And that catches my attention because the more we can bring people back into working on behalf of their own futures and the neighborhoods they live in and the communities they're a part of, that's what's gonna bring back cities like Detroit.
And I'm really encouraged by what I see happening in Detroit. I have followed it as closely as I could. And there's a real opportunity here, so I'm happy to be back.
There's a lot of concern about the Trans Pacific Partnership and its effect on Detroit workers. Could you speak to that with regard to the Big Three?
Well, first of all, I'm gonna wait to see what's in it. I've said that. And I'm gonna judge as to whether or not it creates good jobs, whether it protects the jobs we have, and whether it's good for our national security. And I've made clear some of the specifics that need to be in there.
When I was Secretary of State, we worked with both the auto companies and the UAW to make some changes in the South Korean trade deal. And the jury is still out, but we listened and we responded because we inherited a deal that neither the companies nor the workers were particularly excited about.
So I saw firsthand how we can bring people together and try to improve the opportunity for American companies and American unions and American workers to get a better deal. So I'm hoping that's what we get out of this next effort, too.
[Note: Transcript was prepared by me and I am responsible for any errors.]
More News & Views after the jump!
The Huffington Post reports on a new analysis of the diversity of the campaign staffs for three of the Democratic presidential candidates:
Hillary Clinton's campaign leads those of major Democratic presidential candidates in staff diversity, according to an analysis by a diversity hiring organization...
Citing the July 1 FEC filings, the group reported that Clinton's staff is 32 percent non-white, O’Malley's staff is 9 percent non-white and Sanders' staff is 10 percent non-white.
In their statement, Inclusv said they conducted their investigation by "examining the salary and payroll expenditures listed on each candidate's FEC report, matching these expenditures to available information in the voter file, and performing additional quality control analysis based on Inclusv’s vast national network." Staff hired after the FEC filings aren’t accounted for. Inclusv called the numbers "best estimates."
“Hiring a diverse and talented staff that reflects the diversity of our country has and will continue to be a top priority for the campaign," Clinton spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post.
Regarding diversity,
Vox included this nugget of analysis in their remarkably patronizing
article about Clinton's success with networking within the Democratic party:
When advocacy groups are upset with policy, they often point to a lack of representation within a candidate or president's inner circle. When they want to enhance their representation, they often argue that policy decisions aren't being resolved in their favor. It will be tougher to criticize Clinton because she's covering both bases. The composition of her staff and the composition of her platform reinforce each other...
Clinton...is doing an interesting thing with her top operatives: She's building their brands. One of the effects of that is to make the face of the campaign more of a mosaic and more representative of the party's constituencies. Another effect is to empower those aides as they court voters and activist groups.
Hillary's campaign continues to play the gender card. With this blistering video documenting the many ways that all of the Republican candidates attack women, she shows us once again that one Queen will beat a whole deck of Jokers every time:
She also took a moment on Twitter to praise Becky Hammon, who just became the first female coach head coach in the history of NBA summer league, and led her team to win the championship:
The Wall Street Journal has a rundown of Clinton's proposals for capital gains tax reform:
Hillary Clinton will propose a revamp of capital-gains taxes that would hit some short-term investors with higher rates, part of a package of measures designed to prod companies to put more emphasis on long-term growth, a campaign official said.
The proposal, to be laid out in a speech later this week, is one of a number of ideas designed to tackle what Mrs. Clinton, some economists and some on Wall Street consider the overly short-term focus of corporate strategy. Other topics will include the risks and benefits of shareholder activism and the role of executive compensation.
At the center is Mrs. Clinton’s proposal to change capital-gains tax rates, the details of which are being finalized. The Democratic presidential candidate’s plan would create a sliding scale with at least three new rates that change depending on how long an investment is held, the official said.
And finally, over the weekend the
New York Times ran an interesting profile of Clinton's father, delving into the influence he had on the leader we see before us today:
If Mrs. Rodham, a homemaker who never attended college but who raised her daughter to be confident and caring, is forming the emotional core of Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 campaign, invoked as the inspiration behind her decades of public service, then Mrs. Clinton’s father quietly represents the candidate’s combative, determined and scrappy side. The inspiration, friends said, that toughened his daughter up to not just withstand but embrace yet another political battle.
“He was such a force in the family, and there’s a lot of him in Hillary,” said Lisa Caputo, a friend and former White House press aide who knew Mr. Rodham. “The discipline, the tenacity, the work ethic, a lot of that’s from him.”
When Mrs. Clinton does invoke her father on the campaign trail, she talks about him as a small-business owner who “just believed that you had to work hard to make your way and do whatever you had to do to be successful and provided a good living for our family.”
For more on Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidency, check out…
The Hillary 2016 Platform Series
Part 1: Criminal Justice Reform
Part 2: Immigration Reform
Part 3: Voting Rights
Unfiltered Hillary: The Transcripts
July 20, 2015: Facebook Q&A
July 17, 2015: Iowa State Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner
April 23, 2015: Women in the World Summit
Crossposted at Hillary HQ.com, an independent, progressive blog committed to electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.