Hillary Clinton, the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States in 2016, has taken positions on political issues while serving as First Lady of Arkansas (1979–81; 1983–92), First Lady of the United States (1993–2001); as U.S. Senator from New York (2001–2009); and serving as the United States Secretary of State (2009–2013).
In accordance with longstanding custom, during her time as Secretary of State she largely avoided taking stances on most domestic political issues. In 2015, she announced her candidacy for the presidency. Clinton won the Democratic primaries defeating Bernie Sanders and formally became the party's nominee at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She lost the 2016 US presidential election to billionaire real estate mogul and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Over her career, Clinton has developed a reputation as a "policy wonk" who frequently consults with expert advisors and is deeply involved in the details of policy proposals.Tamara Keith, Clinton Runs As Wonk In Chief, Trying To Win Hearts With Plans, All Things Considered, NPR (January 30, 2016).Jim Tankersley, How Hillary Clinton created her plan for America — behind-the-scenes, The Washington Post (August 2, 2016).Glenn Thrush, Wonk Warrior: Inside the Relaunch of Hillary Clinton, Politico Magazine (June 12, 2016). By August 2016, the Clinton campaign had released 38 policy proposals and 65 fact-sheets, totaling 112,735 words.
Political philosophy
In her own words In her 1996 book It Takes a Village, Clinton writes, "Most of us would describe ourselves as 'middle of the road'—liberal in some areas, conservative in others, moderate in most, neither exclusively pro- nor anti-government." Clinton has stated that she prefers the term "progressive" to "liberal", explaining that "Unfortunately, in the last 30, 40 years, [the word 'liberal'] has been turned up on its head and it's been made to seem as though it is a word that describes big government, totally contrary to what its meaning was in the 19th and early 20th century. I prefer the word 'progressive,' which has a real American meaning, going back to the Progressive Era at the beginning of the 20th century." Yale historian Beverly Gage claims this was due to the fact that "liberal" was considered "a term of opprobrium" by the time Bill and Hillary became involved in national politics, while the term "progressive" has consistently referred to vaguely positive notions of progress, from Republicans and Democrats alike, especially with regard to the Progressive Era.
At a Democratic primary debate in June 2007, in response to the question of whether she would describe herself as a liberal, Clinton said: "I consider myself a modern progressive, someone who believes strongly in individual rights and freedoms, who believes that we are better as a society when we're working together and when we find ways to help those who may not have all the advantages in life get the tools they need to lead a more productive life for themselves and their family. So I consider myself a proud modern American progressive, and I think that's the kind of philosophy and practice that we need to bring back to American politics."
In a September 2015 Women for Hillary event, Clinton said, "You know, I get accused of being kind of moderate and center. I plead guilty."
When asked by Anderson Cooper in October 2015 how she reconciles being both a progressive and moderate, "Do you change your political identity based on who you're talking to? Just for the record, are you a progressive or a moderate?", Hillary answered "I'm a progressive. But I'm a progressive who likes to get things done. And I know how to find common ground, and I know how to stand my ground, and I have proved that in every position that I've had, even dealing with Republicans who never had a good word to say about me, honestly."
Scales and rankings Clinton's 2015 Crowdpac rating was −6.4 on a left-right scale, where −10 is the most liberal and 10 is the most conservative. The score is an aggregate of primarily campaign contributions but also votes and speeches. This represents a slight rightward shift from her 2008 rating of −6.9.
Clinton is rated a "Hard-Core Liberal" according to the OnTheIssues.org scale, which is based on her public statements on social and economic issues. According to FiveThirtyEight'''s review of this and other analyses, "Clinton was one of the most liberal members during her time in the Senate", slightly more liberal than Barack Obama, "as liberal as Elizabeth Warren and barely more moderate than Bernie Sanders". A New York Times analysis found that Clinton and Bernie Sanders voted the same 93 percent of the time in the two years they shared in the Senate (2007–2009), but also noted key areas of disagreement which possibly reflected "political calculations by Mrs. Clinton, who was preparing for a presidential run in 2008"
Clinton "was the 11th most liberal member of the Senate" according to DW-NOMINATE, a multidimensional scaling method based on legislative votes.
Interest groups Clinton's lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union (based on Senate votes) is 8.13%, similar to that of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Economic policy
General In 2015, Vox reported that Clinton was more economically progressive than Obama and former President Bill Clinton, and had a more progressive voting record than Obama when they were both senators.Matthew Yglesias, Hillary Clinton has always been to Obama's left on economics, Vox (June 15, 2015)
The 2016 Clinton campaign's in-house economic advisors were Michael Shapiro and Michael Schmidt, who worked on economic policy in the Obama administration. The campaign's external advisory group included professors Alan Krueger, Alan Blinder, Joseph Stiglitz, Simon Johnson, Aaron Chatterji, and Christina Romer, as well as Heather Boushey, an expert on inequality and paid family leave.
Moody's Analytics claimed Clinton's economic proposals would "result in a stronger U.S. economy under almost any scenario", saying they would, if enacted, create 10.4 million jobs during a four-year presidential term (3.2 million more than expected under current law). GDP growth would be 2.7%, as opposed to the 2.3% which was expected under current law until 2020. They noted that her immigration proposal and paid family leave proposal would increase the number of workers, and that her infrastructure spending would help business productivity.
Clinton's infrastructure plan was praised by economists across the political spectrum.[page no longer exists] One exception is John H. Cochrane, an economist who argued that Clinton's infrastructure spending plan would have limited effects on economic growth. Roughly 70% of the economists polled in late July said a Clinton victory in November would be positive for economic growth (compared with just under 14% for Trump). 55% of business economists in August felt that Clinton would do the best job as president of managing the U.S. economy (with 14% choosing Trump). Meanwhile, 13 of the 20 former Democratic members of the White House Council of Economic Advisers openly supported Clinton, and none opposed her. 19 Nobel laureates in economics signed a letter endorsing Clinton, saying she was better for the economy and country than Donald Trump.
Bankruptcy In 2001, Clinton voted to advance a bankruptcy reform bill that would have made it more difficult for borrowers to discharge their debt as part of bankruptcy proceedings. She stated that her vote was contingent on the inclusion of provisions intended to protect women, including allowing them to collect child support payments if the father declared bankruptcy. Credit card companies, banks, and women's groups supported the bill, while consumer groups opposed it. Clinton explained, "I will not vote for final passage of this bill if it comes back from conference if these kind of reforms are missing". The bill did not come up for a final vote that legislative session. When similar legislation came up again in 2005, without the amendments added by Democrats in 2001, she opposed it.
In 2006 and 2007, while in the Senate, Clinton introduced the Student Borrower Bill of Rights. The legislation would have made it easier for "cash-strapped student borrowers to pay back their loans, have their loans refinanced, qualify for income-based loan payments, and discharge student debt in bankruptcy."Mandi Woodruff, How Hillary Clinton might solve the student debt crisis, Yahoo Finance (May 1, 2015). The legislation did not pass at the time.
Campaign finance In 2002, Clinton voted for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which imposed restrictions on soft money and political campaign advertising. In 2007, she spoke in favor of public financing of some campaigns: "I believe we have to move, eventually in our country, toward a system of public financing that really works for candidates running for federal office. I will support that as president."Jeffrey Gold, "Clinton Backs Public Funds for Campaigns", Associated Press, September 19, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2007. However, her own fundraising allowed her to opt out of the 30 year-old public financing scheme for presidential elections, a move followed by the other candidates for the democratic nomination: Barack Obama and John Edwards. In 2016, Clinton proposed a public financing system that would amplify small contributions.
In 2016, Clinton said that she would, if elected president, introduce a constitutional amendment within her first 30 days in office to overturn the Supreme Court's controversial decision in Citizens United v. FEC (2010), which "launched a new era of unbridled fundraising" in U.S. elections.Dave Levinthal, How 'Citizens United' is helping Hillary Clinton win the White House, Center for Public Integrity (April 13, 2016), reprinted at NBC News. Clinton said that she would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Citizens United, stating she wanted to "protect the right to vote and [not] protect the right of billionaires to buy elections."Hillary Clinton Says Citizens United Would Guide Supreme Court Picks, The New York Times (May 19, 2015). Legislation would have been pushed demanding more "effective" disclosure of political spending by outside groups and, if Congress did not act, to sign an executive order requiring federal government contractors to disclose all political spending.
Capitalism and economic philosophy In a 1996 interview, Clinton commented on the relationship between government and the private sector, saying: "I just believe that there's got to be a healthy tension among all of our institutions in society, and that the market is the driving force behind our prosperity, our freedom in so many respects to make our lives our own but that it cannot be permitted just to run roughshod over people's lives as well."Rob Dietz, Klein, Raasch praised Giuliani's misrepresentation of Clinton quote, Media Matters for America (May 18, 2007).
In a speech in October 2014, Clinton stated "Don't let anybody tell you that it's corporations and businesses that create jobs. You know that old theory, trickle-down economics. That has been tried; that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly."Igor Bobic, GOP Sees 'You Didn't Build That' In Hillary Clinton Jobs Remark, The Huffington Post (October 25, 2014).