It's that post-convention time again for pivoting to the center. Perhaps precisely because Donald Trump is congenitally incapable of doing so, Hillary Clinton doesn't have to. During an economic policy speech Thursday in Warren, Michigan, Clinton made clear that she won't pivot, delivering her strongest pledge yet to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages -- including the Trans-Pacific Partnership," Clinton said. "I oppose it now, I'll oppose it after the election, and I'll oppose it as president."
But it didn't stop there. Alex Seitz-Wald writes:
What economic policy concessions might Hillary Clinton offer up to woo Republicans? If her speech Thursday in Warren, Michigan is any indication, the answer is: Nothing. [...]
Clinton didn't toy with entitlement reform or hint at grand bargains on deficit reduction. Instead, she talked about expanding Social Security, debt-free college, making corporations pay higher taxes, a public option for health care, raising the minimum wage, opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the concentration of wealth in "the top 1 percent."
Some progressives have watched with trepidation as the Clinton campaign reaches out to various high-profile Republicans, like Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman, and rank-and-file GOP voters with initiatives like “Together for America.” But Thursday’s speech signaled that Clinton isn’t compromising progressive policy even as her campaign works to peel off conservative voters. It helps that many in the GOP's national security set believe Trump would be an international menace as president—and he would. That means all Clinton has to do is pass the sanity test, which gives her a lot of room to maneuver on policy.
And most importantly, what she has chosen to do with that space is stay the progressive course.