Clinton rallies around gender appeal

Rarely has Hillary Clinton campaigned on women’s issues so openly and unequivocally as she did on Saturday in New Hampshire.

By Annie Karni

09/05/15, 04:29 PM EDT

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- In a state with a history of electing women to its highest offices, and on the 20th anniversary of her famous speech in Beijing, where as First Lady she declared “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights,” Hillary Clinton defined the entire economic agenda of her 2016 campaign as a women's issue.

For the Democratic front-runner, the backdrop for her speech had special meaning -- this early-voting state is the one where Clinton herself shattered a glass ceiling in 2008 by becoming the first woman to win a presidential primary. But she has been struggling here this time, trailing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in recent polls.

“I’m a proud lifelong fighter for women’s issues,” Clinton told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters that gathered outside Portsmouth Junior High School for the Labor Day weekend kick-off of “Women for Hillary.”

She shared the stage with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor and longtime supporter who officially endorsed Clinton’s campaign Saturday. “I firmly believe what’s good for women is good for America,” Clinton said.

Clinton has been embracing her gender since her kickoff rally on Roosevelt Island last June, but the Women for Hillary rally marked the first time she placed her entire domestic and economic agenda in terms of how it affects women’s lives.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/clinton-nh-women-213369#ixzz3kugQQb8d