Jun.13
Political News, Now.
The Chat: Hillary Clinton’s Rally Speech, Instantly Analyzed
Two months after announcing her presidential candidacy by video, Hillary Rodham Clinton held her first campaign rally shortly before noon Saturday on Roosevelt Island in New York City. Over instant messages, two New York Times political correspondents analyzed Mrs. Clinton’s remarks in real time — as they did with Mrs. Clinton’s announcement video and with the campaign announcements of several other 2016 candidates. Here is an edited version of their chat.
Pat: Hi, Maggie! It’s great to be back with you analyzing Hillary Clinton’s campaign rally kickoff.
Maggie: Hello, Patrick!
Pat: And here she is, taking the stage solo – no Bill Clinton, no one else – with big smiles in a blue pantsuit!
She starts off this Roosevelt Island rally by noting there are “absolutely no ceilings” – powerful evocation of her final speech as a 2008 presidential candidate and her “18 million cracks” reference.
And she quickly threads together three Democratic presidents – Roosevelt, Clinton and Obama. She is creating a path here.
Maggie: The model is Democratic policies versus Republican.
But the reason this is interesting to me is that some of her advisers don’t want her to refer too much to the past.
Sent at 11:59 AM on Saturday
Pat: She’s starting to sound like a professor as she criticizes Republicans on taxes and the economy.
Maggie: The through-line on this speech is getting a bit lost. Also, she is now shouting.
Pat: One thing she is not doing, in contrast to Bernie Sanders, is vilifying Wall Street titans and using red-meat rhetoric like “fat cats.” Instead she says, in an even voice, “You see the top 25 hedge fund managers making more than all of America’s kindergarten teachers combined, and often paying a lower tax rate.”
Maggie: That’s exactly right. This is so far a very wonky speech.
Sent at 12:02 PM on Saturday
Maggie: “I’m not running for some Americans, but for all Americans. Our country’s challenges didn’t begin with the great recession, and they won’t end with the recovery.” That is an effective line.
Financial industry – “created huge wealth for a few.”
Pat: It’s a nice contrast to Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” line.
Maggie: She is sticking with the “fighter” theme her team rolled out.
Sent at 12:04 PM on Saturday
Pat: She gives a shout-out to abortion rights and gay rights – checking the boxes. But then she pivots to children – and Maggie, this is where she does sound a bit more animated.
Maggie: Yes, totally. And also, talking about her mother, whose story was of hard luck and rising up.
She is very invested in her mother’s history, and what her mother gave her. And she tells that story with real emotion.
The thing is, Pat, I still don’t hear a rationale. Maybe it’s to come in the rest of the speech
Sent at 12:10 PM on Saturday
Pat: Here is some policy and some real heart. “I will propose that we make preschool and quality child care available to every child in America,” she says. “Research tells us how much early learning in the first five years of life impacts lifelong success.”
Women and children – her deepest passions, no question.
Maggie: Yes, I think we’ve reached an important part of the speech for her, including paid family leave. These are issues she’s worked on for a long time.
Pat: Absolutely. Worth noting that Bernie Sanders announced his “family values agenda” two days earlier, calling for paid family leave, paid sick time and vacation time – as Clinton did just now.
Maggie: She’s going to foreign policy.
“I was in the situation room on the day we got bin Laden.”
And describes herself as standing up to Putin.
Sent at 12:26 PM on Saturday
Pat: Passing reference to Israel, nothing new on ISIS or Iraq. You would think she would cite more of her big successes at State, though many Republicans say she lacks them.
Maggie: Yes. I don’t think there’s much new. Although urging people to make the campaign “your own” was very Obama-esque.
Pat: A bit of rationale here: “I’ve spent my life fighting for children, families and our country, and I’m not stopping now.”
Maggie: “I may not be the youngest candidate in the race. But I will be the youngest woman president in the history of the United States.”
“You won’t see my hair turn white in the White House – I’ve been coloring it for years.”
She’s tested that one out a few times too, including in South Carolina.
Maggie: This part is really good.
“I won’t get everything right.”
She notes that she makes many mistakes.
“I certainly haven’t won every battle I’ve fought.”
Pat: She got personal and turned fun.
Maggie: This part of the speech is much better.
“I’ve been called many things by many people. Quitter is not one of them.”
And now we loop back to her mom.
Sent at 12:35 PM on Saturday
Pat: Her voice is genuinely lighter and punchier in this section. Maybe it’s the writing, maybe it’s her gut, or maybe it’s just getting to the end of her very first rally of the campaign – as we know, candidates usually get better at rallies over time.
Maggie: She seems happiest talking about her mom, and about making history herself.
Pat: A beautiful thought she attributes to her mom: “Life is not what happens to you – it’s about what you do with what happens to you. So get back out there.”
Maggie: But I agree with you, the last 10 minutes have been the best, in content and in delivery.
By all accounts, her mother was a remarkable woman, and she bears witness to that in these speeches.
Pat: “An America where a father can tell his daughter, ‘Yes, you can be anything you want to be, even president of the United States.’”
Maggie: It was a great closing line. The end was quite good. And that will be what most people take away from it, I suspect.
I think the other thing that’s important to note here is how little time she spent talking about Republicans. Contrast that with how much time all the Republicans will spend criticizing her or Obama.
I don’t think it was a great speech, but it accomplished what it needed to. Two words that I think also were not in there much? Wall Street.
Sent at 12:39 PM on Saturday
Pat: ISIS and Iran certainly weren’t in there in any big way. If I didn’t know she had been secretary of state, I don’t think this speech would have gotten that across. Instead, it was a speech focused on America and economic and domestic issues. And she listed so many groups she wanted to support and help – it had an all-things-to-all-people feel.
And here’s Bill Clinton!
Maggie: Ha! And her entire family!
One interesting note, here: Her aides say the attendance was bigger than 5,500 people. That’s a lot for a hot Saturday, even in NYC.
Sent at 12:42 PM on Saturday
Pat: New York Democrats have her back, no question. Now she’s on to Iowa, where the challenge – the ghosts of 2008, not to mention Bernie Sanders – will be much greater for her. I’ll see you Monday for Jeb Bush’s announcement speech, Maggie!
Maggie: See you then!
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Vendor From Brooklyn Finds Clinton T-shirts a Tough Sell
One man from Brooklyn was on Roosevelt Island on Saturday morning selling homemade T-shirts near the only subway stop, taking advantage as Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters walked by on their way to the southern tip of the island, where Mrs. Clinton was planning a rally to kick off her campaign for the presidency.
Subway riders streaming out of the station had to pass the man, Abdon Valdez, who was sitting on a grassy spot and peddling the shirts for $20. So far, he had sold only one.
Mr. Valdez, 30, who said he was a registered Democrat and a Clinton supporter, remained optimistic. “I’m hoping to sell more,” he said. “I think I’ll just stay here a while.”
The shirts — decorated with cartoon busts in varying colors of Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton — all said the same thing: “2 for 1: 2016.” Mr. Valdez said he was selling the shirts on behalf of a friend, a doctor who lived in Florida and was also a Clinton supporter. His friend had designed the shirts and shipped them to New York ahead of Saturday’s rally.
Mr. Valdez, who said he worked at a law firm and was a musician, gets to keep $5 for every shirt he sells.
As he spoke, one passer-by said, “Thank God! You’re selling Hillary shirts!” before moving along after realizing that Mr. Valdez, who had the shirts displayed on top of a white bath towel, did not accept credit cards.
Roosevelt Island Awakens to a Clinton Crowd
Though the usual early-morning risers were already walking their dogs and stretching their legs as they strolled along the East River, this was not a typical Saturday on Roosevelt Island. At the southern end of the island, the residents found themselves bumping into hundreds of supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton waiting in line hours before she was expected to give the kickoff speech of her 2016 campaign for president here.
“I walk my dog here every day,” said Ping Gu, who has lived on Roosevelt Island for four years. “I didn’t get a ticket and I probably won’t wait in line for three hours to see her, but I do wish I had two tickets because my nephew has lived in China for most of his life and I want him to have exposure.” Ms. Gu said her 14-year-old nephew was staying with her this weekend.
The campaign was handing out tickets to the event to people standing in a line near Four Freedoms Park, which celebrates the famous speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Ms. Gu, a registered Democrat, said she supported Mrs. Clinton and did not mind the crowds on the island for the event. She also said the Clinton volunteers she had encountered were respectful and kind.
“I hope I can get a ticket because I live here,” she said. “It feels weird to wait so long — I live here.”
Another resident, Mohammed Khan, was on his regular walk around the island with his wife, Naher.
Mr. Khan, also a registered Democrat, said they had stumbled onto the Clinton event by chance, asked campaign volunteers what was going on and decided they would continue walking and then come back to wait in line.
“She’s good,” he said of Mrs. Clinton. “We’ll come back.”
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