Hillary Raises the Banner of Bipartisan “Purple,” Assuming Centrism to Keep Distance from Liberal Democrats and Remain Competitive

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered her vision as a potential presidential candidate on Feb. 24 in Silicon Valley. Obviously, she still hadn’t officially announced her candidacy yet.

At the Santa Clara Convention Center in California, Clinton sat down with Re/Code’s Kara Swisher for an interview. She stated that she would “bring people from right, left red, blue, and get them into a nice warm purple space where we are actually talking and trying to solve problem. … That would be [her] objective if [she] decide[s] to do this.”

She then went on to give elaborate descriptions of cases of cooperation with Republicans; when she was the first lady of the State of Arkansas and when she was a senator from the state of New York.

It is a response to the criticism that Washington has become dysfunctional due to extreme partisan struggles, and a statement which declares that she intends to cut through the public’s distrust of politics via centrism. This is the point where she diverges from President Barack Obama’s uncompromising stance with Republicans, and a comment that distances her from liberal supporters like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders. This shows that Clinton, who recently held a private chat with Sen. Warren, intends to focus more on competing on the national stage now that she represents the general trend within her party.

Clinton also noted that “we have to restore economic growth with rising wages for the vast majority of Americans,” followed by “we have to restore trust and cooperation within our political systems.” She also mentioned that while “productivity is actually up, people are working longer hours than many had to work in the past, but there is just no increase in the wages that demonstrates or appreciates [increased productivity].” In addition, she noted that it is imperative that America finds its way to make the economy work for everyone.

The interview was held in front of about 5,000 career women of Silicon Valley. The New York Times analyzed that this event was a move by Clinton to appeal to high-income, career women voters. The event’s admission fee was $245 per person and Clinton was paid $300,000 for her lecture during the event. Republicans have criticized Clinton for holding too much imagery of the rich to claim that she represents all Americans.