Bill De Blasio: Hillary’s ‘Beginning to Fashion a Progressive Agenda’

[Cali_Democrat]

Gotham Mayor Bill de Blasio made news last month when he declined to endorse Hillary Clinton — yet — citing a want of progressive policy proposals.

On Morning Joe Wednesday morning de Blasio, Clinton’s campaign manager for her successful 2000 Senate run, sounded as if he was beginning to hear what he wanted to hear.

“I have seen some clear signals, some clear ideas come out of her conversations in Iowa,” he said. “Certainly the speech on criminal justice reform I thought was very powerful. What she said about immigration. I think she’s beginning to fashion a progressive agenda.”

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/de-blasio-hillarys-beginning-to-fashion-a-progressive-agenda/

[arcane1]

1. It seems odd to start running for president first, then deciding what your ideas are.

Is that just me? I'd expect a candidate to already have some idea of their positions

That's why I love Sanders: he's had a progressive agenda for decades and started campaigning on that agenda on day one

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Sanders is great!

Issues like income inequality and immigration weren't as front and center in 2008 as they are now. In 2008 our economy was collapsing and we still had loads of troops in Iraq. Back then, Obama and Hillary were just talking about how best to stop the bleeding.

Bernie has been able to speak to those issues more effectively because he's an active Senator while Hillary is not and hasn't been since 2008.

But it's still good to see Hillary take the fight to the cons.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. Obama has changed quite a few positions since he was president, notably on gay marriage.

i think people evolve, they watch policies fail and learn from them (or not).

[arcane1]

8. Good points! I hope that's the case here too

[lewebley3]

19. I think he was always for gay marriage: He has to wait for the country to evolve!

Most issues are like that, when real change is being done!

[merrily]

29. No change whatever. Obama was on the record in 1994 as pro equal marriage. Axelrod's book

admitted Obama dialed that back purely for political reasons. As he was gearing up to run for re-election, gay bundlers (1 in 8 Democratic bundlers are gay) and gay advocates like HRC told him now or never.

[roguevalley]

16. true that. When you have no really deep convictions you have to find some. Nothing will

make her keep them if she wins. Mr. Obama didn't mostly.

[swilton]

43. ditto

[lewebley3]

18. The world, and its need are ever changing: New ideals are needed for New times!

Bernie's agenda is liberal, it only call "progressive" now because the GOP have
taken the country to the right! (Dem's were weak in defending lib's)

FDR, wanted to expand SS, Bernie's ideals could summed up in a song title,
"Everything old is New Again"


Really new progressive ideas, will have to be about Climate change, Hillary is
going to make this large part of her campaign.


Hillary, would sign any bill Warren and Sanders have the votes for! These
three people are all on the same page.

Hillary has the experience, and training is takes to become President!

[merrily]

30. There is a world of difference between Sanders and Hillary, both in

views and in honesty.

[lewebley3]

58. No, there is no difference between Hillary on Issues, but diffs on Experience!

Sanders has only had responsibility at the most 600,000 people,
that is the population of Vermont, all libs, he has not
had to deal with or the responsibility of 300,000,0000. people.


He has no foreign experience, no administration experience, the
list goes on!


GO Hillary!!

[Exilednight]

51. I keep hearing about Hillary's experience, but her resume' is

is suspect at best, IMO.

I was very disappointed when Obama picked her as SoS due to how they clashes over how to handle world leaders. There's not a single thing from her tenure at State that I can point to and say that she drastically or fundamentally changed the world. I feel as if she pulled Obama to the right in terms of foreign policy.

After she left State, Obama began work on normalizing relations with Cuba, and Iran went to the negotiation table.

I, also, believe there was a reason that Obama put Biden in charge of Iraq and Afgjanistan and put Hillary I'm a secondary role.

[lewebley3]

57. Hillary is the best Dem's have to offer: She is not all things to everyone!

Hillary will also have her party, and we help get the bills passed so
she can sign them.

[Exilednight]

59. She's not the best the we have, Republicans are pushing her so they

Can pick their opponent. It worked with Obama when he picked Romney. I feel our party is falling for the same ploy.

Foreign policy is a big issue for me since it effects is domestically.

[justiceischeap]

24. It seems odd to me that many politicians don't talk to the "people"

about what's important to them and "fashion" their positions based on that. A politician is supposed to be a representative of the people, all the people and I don't think listening to the people and then creating a policy agenda from that is necessarily a bad thing.

I know most here see it as pandering but I see it (maybe because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt) as a politician actually doing their job. I also know many will disagree with me but meh, that's like every other day, right?

For example, I'm a huge fan of Kirsten Gillibrand but she gets flack because she changes the way she serves in each election but in each election she's representing a different group of people and I think she's a good representative for those people because of this. So many people tend to forget what a politician's job is and representing ALL of their constituents is part of that job--even if it means doing things we progressives detest.

That's my take on it anyway.

[Nay]

28. No, it's not just you. It irritates me to no end to keep hearing that she's crafting

her position, talking to people to find out how they feel, consulting with a hundred advisors to carve out her ideas, etc. What the hell??? She's been in politics this long and she hasn't had very definite ideas on how things should be done? How does that happen? Bernie doesn't have a problem stating his position on things!

Clinton can't even tell you whether she thinks TPP is OK or not. That's all I need to know.

[merrily]

31. +1 IOW, she'd really, really like to be the first woman President.

[bigtree]

44. I totally agree

...it looks like more of a game, a ruse, than an 'agenda.'

[redruddyred]

56. one gets the impression that hillary doesn't really like people. nt

[Octafish]

46. Almost as if one is assuming a title through privilege or birthright...

...then at the last moment realizing it's a democracy and the proles first get to vote on it and one needs to say something, anything to look the part of someone who gives a damn about another human being.

[NCTraveler]

3. She is starting to get it going for the campaign. Excellent speech on Immigration recently.

But she has fought for a progressive agenda for decades. I do like how he speaks. As if nothing will be taken for granted.

[msongs]

4. yet when obama changed his mind he was a hero lol nt

[Cali_Democrat]

5. What do you mean? What does that have do to with De Blasio saying Hillary is moving left? nt

[merrily]

32. Please see Reply 29.

Also, there is a huge difference between actually changing your mind and cobbling together anything you think you will help you get elected because your vision for America is you in the Oval Office and not much more.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. yes, she is and i am happy for it. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. I am proud to kick this thread./NT

[colsohlibgal]

10. Careful

Obama sounded like FDR 2 running in 2008. Then he won and we saw he was Bill Clinton 2, solid neo democrat.

I can see Hillary doing the same thing. I know Bernie will not veer rightward.

[hifiguy]

11. Eeyup.

And any "agenda" that fails to rein in economic inequality, militarism, the banksters and the billionaire class isn't worth a pinch of shit in terms of being "progressive."

[1StrongBlackMan]

25. No he didn't. n/t

[Eleanors38]

12. Ah! She's beginning. They don't call courses "101" for nothing.

[rhett o rick]

13. She is going to "begin to fashion a progressive agenda." Meaning she hasn't had such to this point.

And to become "progressive" would mean she would have to have a complete turn around on many important issues. She is considered progressive on a number of social issues and that is important. But to reiterate her stands on social issues is not becoming progressive. In my opinion she can not "fashion a progressive agenda" unless she changes to being progressive on Free Trade (the TPP), fracking, foreign policy, the NSA/CIA Security State, Patriot Act, regulating Wall Street, SS, single payer, and control the MIC. I would love to see her become "progressive" but to "fashion a progress agenda" doesn't really mean anything.

We need a progressive president and Bill De Blasio knows it. That why he thinks HRC needs to change her agenda.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. "Beginning to fashion.." "Adopting..". Why now?

Kinda sorta...maybe...some day...

Aka Triangulation.

Been there, done that, regretted it.

[hifiguy]

15. "Triangulation." You nailed it.

And every "progressive" sounding word she says will disappear into the aether the moment she wins the WH, if she does.

We know who her owners are and so does anyone who has been paying attention for the last ten years.

Won't get fooled again.

[fbc]

17. Yep, her positions are whatever she think will get her elected

[seveneyes]

20. BDB4VP resonates

FILO. First In, Last Out. Oscillate until entropy stops you.

[KMOD]

21. Here's the translation for the perpetual Hillary detractors

who look for something in nothing.

DeBlasio is appreciative of the issues HRC is putting on the front burner in her 2016 run.

Mayor DeBlasio, like most people, already know that HRC is a progressive.

[merrily]

34. Yeah, no. DeBlasio in April, on why he had not endorsed Hillary yet.

But he demurred when asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he would endorse Clinton-- underscoring, at least in appearance, the left's hesitance about a candidate they see as too centrist and too close to Wall Street to address wage stagnation and income inequality.

"I think like a lot of people in this country I want to see a vision. And, again, that would be true of candidates on all levels. It's time to see a clear, bold vision for progressive economic change," De Blasio said.

Host Chuck Todd then asked: "So you're technically not yet endorsing her?"

"No, not until I see -- and, again, I would say this about any candidate -- until I see an actual vision of where they want to go," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/12/politics/hillary-clinton-bill-de-blasio-no-endorsement/


She's been in public life since about 1972 and, as of 2015, the man who was her campaign manager was still unsure what her vision was. So, when he says she is BEGINNING to fashion a progressive agenda, I take him at his word. Moreover, I've seen no evidence that DeBlasio needs a translator when it comes to progressive issues. Hillary apparently does though. See also, Reply 28.

[KMOD]

40. I'm confident that Mayor DeBlasio will endorse HRC.

He, like most voters, usually like to say that they are waiting to hear the platform before they endorse.

If you haven't noticed, Senator Warren has said the exact same thing about both HRC and Senator Sanders. She wants to hear what they have to say, and that she likes what she's hearing. Now, obviously Senator Warren knows where both HRC and Senator Sanders stand, but just like the Mayor, and the majority of voters, everyone wants to hear the platform first.

I'll tell you what, if the Mayor doesn't endorse HRC, I will buy you a new jock.

[4dsc]

22. Not clear enough for me though

until she quacks, walks, and talk like a progressive I'm still not buying what she is selling.

[merrily]

35. She's been in public life over 40 years. She can quack all she wants.

I'm going by the 40+ years, not the handiwork of her hundreds of campaign advisors.

And why is she even running, if she had no vision for America after 40 years, except a vision of herself seated in the Oval Office as the first woman President?

[HappyMe]

23. Sanders has been a progressive for years.

Her sudden progressive agenda is lip service for progressive votes. I'll go with the guy who has a proven track record of a progressive agenda. Nice try, Hillary.

[merrily]

27. +1

[merrily]

26. Beginning? She's been in public life since about 1972.

[99Forever]

33. Hmmm... let me see...

... someone that is "moving to the left" (well, at least when campaigning in primaries, once in office, not so much.) Where have I seen this movie before?

OR

Someone with a decades long proven history of fighting tooth and nail for progressive, populist, traditional Democratic policies and values?

Tough choice.


Not.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. Convictions easily acquired are just as easily discarded.

I'd REALLY be more comfortable if Hillary already HAD such convictions instead of "beginning" to develop them (with the help of her advisers and focus groups, of course).

On the other hand, isn't that why Bernie's entrance into the campaign was always considered a good thing -- that he'd pull Hillary a bit out of her comfortable orbit? Well, it looks like he's beginning to do it a little...

[MannyGoldstein]

37. "fashion"?

America needs Progressives in government, not candidates that suddenly convert.

[marmar]

38. No, Hillary's 'beginning to spout progressive platitudes' ..........

..... to get elected. Don't be fooled.

[Liberal_in_LA]

48. give her a chance

[True Blue Door]

39. More like a progressive rhetoric lexicon to be shit on the moment she has the nomination.

She's not a progressive, period. That's just a fact of who she is, demonstrated by her entire career.

But I get why De Blasio might feel pressured. Clinton is incredibly vindictive, and if he won't endorse her and she does get the nomination and does manage to win, relations between the federal government and the NYC Mayor's office would be bone-chillingly cold.

[murielm99]

45. The vindictiveness I am seeing is from Bernie supporters

right here on DU.

Chris Christie is vindictive.

I have been here a long time. People come out of the woodwork and attack each other during the primary season. The trolls and right wing nuts love it.

Find a positive way to support your candidate or you are not credible. You are detracting from his credibility, too.

[True Blue Door]

47. I do positively support Bernie Sanders, but I'm not going to pretend

that my loathing for Hillary Clinton's profoundly un-Democratic and illiberal behavior doesn't play a role in my decision.

And I am not a "purity" type who says things like that lightly. I think Barack Obama is Mt. Rushmore material, and I laugh at guys like Dennis Kucinich. But Hillary Clinton is both nihilistic and inept as a politician, combining the flaws of both wings of the Party with none of their respective virtues, and I see literally no advantage to supporting her.

If she is our nominee, the question will not be if we win, but how much we lose, because every scenario is either a partial loss with damaging long-term repercussions for the Party or a total loss with even worse consequences over time.

[Android3.14]

41. The word "Fashion" is significant

She seems to be "In fashion" with this "progressive agenda" more than "fashioning".

But at least someone is listening to Bernie Sanders.

[McKim]

42. Wow She Will Do Anything to Get Elected

Wow, she is beginning to fashion a move to the Left! She would even do THAT to get elected. Her Iraq War vote told me all I need to know! 500,000 or more people died in that war. That is a great sin. Her later repudiation of her vote does not count. She went down that road and she made a choice. Anyone with a brain could see the war was built on lies. Senator Byrd certainly knew the facts and acted correctly. I am done with Hilary. I have had enough of Republican Lite with Obama.

[LiberalLovinLug]

49. So....coincidence?

Since Bernie entered the race, and his profile is not being lost in the shuffle, despite the best efforts of the NYT and other main stream news outlets to ignore him...suddenly Hillary is scrambling to find a few progressive bones to throw at the plebs?

[DerekG]

50. Are we progressives THAT stupid to fall for this con?

The Clintons truly are the most cynical politicians of their generation, and I pray to Christ that Democrats see through their ruse and demand an alternative.

Go to hell, Hillary. And take your husband with you.

[Thinkingabout]

52. It is hard to cover a record of voting liberal while Hillary was in the senate.

BTW, Hillary's stand on the issues are mostly pre 2008 so entry into the 2016 campaign still has her record on those issues. Hopefully there will be others who evolve on the truth of Hillary's stand on the issues as De Blasio is doing.

[SusanCalvin]

53. Too late. nt

[Cha]

54. thank you for the link, Cali. I know how these people on DU have treated the President for 7 years

and I see the same with Hillary.

I don't have a candidate yet.. but, I'm not going blast any of the Dems running.. with any snarky shite.

[magical thyme]

55. Fashioning a progressive agenda? or a progressive primary campaign?

because in my dictionary, an agenda and a campaign are 2 different things.

Right now, she's working on her campaign.

We'll find out her agenda after she's in office, not before.