The policy agenda sketched out by Hillary Rodham Clinton comes in the form of what she calls four fights: building a fairer economy, strengthening families, maintaining world leadership and reforming government.

As president, Clinton pledged Saturday before an exuberant crowd in Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, N.Y., “I’ll wage and win four fights for you.”

“Democracy can’t be just for billionaires and corporations. Prosperity and democracy are part of your basic bargain too,” @HillaryClinton says.

The crowd cheered and applauded 55 times during this litany of policy proposals, which took up most of the second half of the 4,500-word speech by the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, who wants to secure the Democratic nomination and go on to become the first woman elected president of the United States.

Among those gathered on park land named after a Democratic icon, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the enthusiasm often greeted red meat for liberals and self-identified progressives such as income inequality or improved education, rather than a specific policy solution such as school choice or entitlement reform.

“Prosperity can’t be just for CEOs and hedge fund managers,” Clinton said early on.

Democracy can’t be just for billionaires and corporations. Prosperity and democracy are part of your basic bargain too. You brought our country back. Now it’s time—your time—to secure the gains and move ahead.

Building the Economy

Clinton devoted the most time and by far the most words (746) to an economic message focused on helping those who work hard overcome what she called income inequality that benefits “those at the top.”

She said she wants to “make the middle class mean something again, with rising incomes and broader horizons,” including “more growth and more fairness.”

Clinton said she would “give the poor a chance to work their way into” the middle class. As president, Clinton said, she would champion a “better deal” for Americans that would include “higher pay for employees, equal pay for women, and no discrimination against the LGBT community.”

Later in the campaign, she said, she will propose policies to:

  • Reward businesses that “invest in long-term value rather than the quick buck,” because it “leads to higher growth for the economy, higher wages for workers, and yes, bigger profits.”
  • Rewrite the tax code “so it rewards hard work and investments here at home, not quick trades or stashing profits overseas.”
  • Offer new incentives to companies that “give their employees a fair share of the profits their hard work earns.”

She said a Hillary Clinton administration would develop renewable power such as wind, solar and advanced biofuels and build “cleaner power plants, smarter electric grids, [and] greener buildings.”

She pledged to devote “additional fees and royalties” imposed on producers of coal, oil and other fossil fuels to the government’s environment protection programs.

All this, she said, “will create millions of jobs and countless new businesses, and enable America to lead the global fight against climate change.”

Clinton committed herself to more spending on infrastructure, including “roads, railways, bridges, airports, ports and broadband brought up to global standards for the 21st century.” She proposed establishing an “infrastructure bank” and selling bonds to pay for “some” improvements.

Since education is part of “building an economy for tomorrow,” Clinton wants to “make preschool and quality child care available to every child.” She called for “teachers who are second to none” in primary and secondary schools.

“Let’s make college affordable and available to all … and lift the crushing burden of student debt,” she said.

Strengthening Families

Clinton devoted about 330 words to what she called the “new and unique pressures” on families and how parents “need more support and flexibility to do their job at work and at home.”

She said employees have “the right to earn paid sick days” and should get work schedules “with enough notice to arrange child care or take college courses.” Their employers “should offer paid family leave” and “end the outrage of so many women still earning less than men.”

Americans should “look forward to retirement with confidence,” she said.

Without directly addressing Obamacare, she said Americans “should have the peace of mind that your health care will be there when you need it, without breaking the bank.”

“No other country on Earth is better positioned to thrive in the 21st century,” @HillaryClinton says.

Turning to other matters she identified as “family issues” rather than economic ones, Clinton said she favored raising the minimum wage, “expanding” child care, and providing addiction and mental health services to more Americans.

She repeated an earlier call to extend legal status to most of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, saying: “So we should offer hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families a path to citizenship. Not second-class status.”

Finally, Clinton said, “we should ban discrimination against LGBT Americans and their families so they can live, learn, marry, and work just like everybody else.”

World Leadership

Given that she helped shape foreign policy as secretary of state in Obama’s first term, Clinton’s speech paid relatively little attention—340 words—to matters of diplomacy and defense. She talked about “opportunities” and “a lot of good news out there” rather than ongoing troubles in Russia, China, the Middle East and elsewhere.

“We have a third fight: to harness all of America’s power, smarts, and values to maintain our leadership for peace, security and prosperity,” she said, adding:

No other country on Earth is better positioned to thrive in the 21st century. No other country is better equipped to meet traditional threats from countries like Russia, North Korea and Iran—and to deal with the rise of new powers like China. No other country is better prepared to meet emerging threats from cyber-attacks, transnational terror networks like ISIS and diseases that spread across oceans and continents. As your president, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Americans safe.

Clinton said she had “stood up to adversaries like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and “reinforced allies like Israel.”

She said she would wield “skillful diplomacy” and “economic influence” while “building partnerships to improve lives around the world with people, not just their governments.”

Reforming Government

Clinton’s final cluster of policy positions proved popular with the crowd, with nearly every line sparking cheers and applause.

“We have to stop the endless flow of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections, corrupting our political process, and drowning out the voices of our people,” she said, attacking conservatives who see it as constitutional question by adding:

We need justices on the Supreme Court who will protect every citizen’s right to vote, rather than every corporation’s right to buy elections. If necessary, I will support a constitutional amendment to undo the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United. I want to make it easier for every citizen to vote. That’s why I’ve proposed universal, automatic registration and expanded early voting. I’ll fight back against Republican efforts to disempower and disenfranchise young people, poor people, people with disabilities, and people of color.

She proposed “smarter, simpler, more efficient” government that is “a better partner.” Besides “access to advanced technology” to improve services, officials need “expertise and innovation from the private sector to help cut waste and streamline services.”

Crediting states that “pioneer new ways to deliver services,” she said: “I want to help Washington catch up.”

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