One of our candidates keeps talking about having "serious conversations"

[Jackpine Radical]

about things they really don't want to address.

"We have to have a serious conversation about what we should do about Social Security," etc. No plans, no statements of principle, not even conversations--just talk about "serious conversations."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Tuesday for "a serious conversation" about rules to ensure an open Internet, noting it had helped power the pro-democracy uprising in Egypt but also served as a tool for terrorists and repressive governments.

Alighting from the rather menacing-looking black van that had borne her over two days from the East Coast to deepest Iowa, Hillary Clinton chose a deliberately low-key “conversation” with a small group of community college students to launch her presidential campaign.

The decision to go intimate rather than big-venue splashy for the debut event was part of a meticulously crafted strategy to try to dispose of the celebrity aura that clings to the former First Lady and Secretary of State and re-purpose her as a candidate willing to get into the mix with voters and listen to their concerns.

“Wow, that’s great,” she offered with uncertain enthusiasm as the first of a handpicked group of students shared her plans to graduate and find work.

And her plan for improving the condition of the masses? Here it is, in all its glorious detail:

Looking alternately at her hosts and the cameras, Ms Clinton reiterated the theme of the video released on Sunday declaring her candidacy – that she means to be the “champion” of the American people, some of whom have yet to see the benefits of the economic recovery. “I want to be that champion,” she said, “I want to stand up for people so they are not just getting by but so they can get ahead and stay ahead.”

So contrast that to how she behaves when an issue is truly close to her heart:

ONE ICY MORNING in February 2012, Hillary Clinton's plane touched down in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, which was just digging out from a fierce blizzard. Wrapped in a thick coat, the secretary of state descended the stairs to the snow-covered tarmac, where she and her aides piled into a motorcade bound for the presidential palace. That afternoon, they huddled with Bulgarian leaders, including Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, discussing everything from Syria's bloody civil war to their joint search for loose nukes. But the focus of the talks was fracking. The previous year, Bulgaria had signed a five-year, $68 million deal, granting US oil giant Chevron millions of acres in shale gas concessions. Bulgarians were outraged. Shortly before Clinton arrived, tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets carrying placards that read "Stop fracking with our water" and "Chevron go home." Bulgaria's parliament responded by voting overwhelmingly for a fracking moratorium.

Clinton urged Bulgarian officials to give fracking another chance. According to Borissov, she agreed to help fly in the "best specialists on these new technologies to present the benefits to the Bulgarian people."

But resistance only grew. The following month in neighboring Romania, thousands of people gathered to protest another Chevron fracking project, and Romania's parliament began weighing its own shale gas moratorium. Again Clinton intervened, dispatching her special envoy for energy in Eurasia, Richard Morningstar, to push back against the fracking bans.

The State Depart­ment's lobbying effort culminated in late May 2012, when Morningstar held a series of meetings on fracking with top Bulgarian and Romanian officials. He also touted the technology in an interview on Bulgarian national radio, saying it could lead to a fivefold drop in the price of natural gas. A few weeks later, Romania's parliament voted down its proposed fracking ban and Bulgaria's eased its moratorium.

[Maedhros]

1. Some concrete examples of what she will do to be a "champion for the people" would be nice.[n/t]

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Well, for starters, she doesn't want to increase taxes on the Middle Class

to fund SocSec. Those poor folk making over 117K need a break. A raised cap would bankrupt them, unlike the effect of FICA on those (apparently very few) whose income falls below the cap.

[Autumn]

2. That all comes up seriously lacking in comparison to the serious conversations

Bernie Sanders has on a daily basis.