Editor’s note: Though it’s still 2015, the 2016 presidential campaign is underway. The field is already crowded, and to help you keep track, we’re compiling this guide to recognizing candidates outside their natural habitats.
words by Larry Clow, photos by Roger H. Goun
The candidates: Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb
Species: Clinton: former senator and secretary of state (Dem.)
Webb: former senator and secretary of the Navy (Dem.)
Primary habitats: Washington, D.C., New York (Clinton);
Washington, D.C., Virginia (Webb)
Description: As candidates move out of their native habitats and into new areas in search of supporters, they often change their appearance and alter their calls so that they may better blend in with their surroundings. This shift was observed late last week, as former secretary of state Hillary Clinton spent the day in the Seacoast, first at a small business roundtable at Smuttynose Brewery in Hampton, and, later, at a grassroots organizing event at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter. During her stop at Smuttynose, Clinton took part in a roundtable discussion with the brewery’s owners, Peter Egelston and Joanne Francis, and other local business leaders. Before the discussion began, Clinton said, “I want to be the small business president,” and said that the “deck is still being stacked for those at the top” of the economic ladder. She also expressed support for reauthorizing the federal Export Import Bank, “building on (the) Dodd-Frank (Act), not undermining it,” and making it easier for community banks to provide loans for small businesses.
Hillary Clinton (center)
Clinton’s appearance in Hampton came the morning after the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit established by former president Bill Clinton in 2001, disclosed that since 2002, Hillary Clinton gave 16 paid speeches for the foundation that brought in between $3 million and $6.25 million, according to an NPR report. Venues for the speeches included colleges and universities and financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. And, on Friday afternoon, the State Department released the first batch of emails from the private email address Clinton maintained while she was secretary of state. The revelations were at odds with the populist, middle-class-friendly image Clinton presented during her Seacoast visits. As her campaign activity increases, expect Clinton to further refine her image.
Jim Webb
Clinton was not the only former secretary recently on the Seacoast. On May 15, former U.S. senator and former secretary of the Navy Jim Webb of Virginia was in Portsmouth. Webb’s stops included a lunch with business leaders, two house parties, and a veterans’ fundraising dinner. Webb is a Vietnam veteran, author, and screenwriter. Though he has not officially declared his candidacy, Webb appears likely to join the small group of Democratic politicians who will challenge Clinton for the party’s nomination. According to a Boston Globe report, during his stop in Portsmouth, Webb fielded questions about criminal justice reform, the economy, the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership deal, and money in politics.
Similar to: Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has been identified as a possible Republican contender. Sen. Bernie Sanders, currently Clinton’s only official competition for the Democratic nomination, has events scheduled in Epping and Portsmouth on the evening of May 27. Former New York governor George Pataki is slated to throw his hat into the Republican ring on May 28 in Exeter.