SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday if she decides to seek the White House again she would seek to bring Republicans from red states and Democrats in blue states into a “nice, warm, purple space” that would encourage problem-solving.
Clinton, the leading Democratic contender should she run, referred to her likely presidential campaign in hypothetical terms during an interview on stage at a women’s conference in Silicon Valley. But she said anyone who mounts a campaign president in 2016 should make economic growth and restoring rising wages a top priority along with rebuilding trust and cooperation in the nation.
“I’d like to bring people from right and left, red, blue, get them into a nice, warm, purple space where everybody is talking and where we’re actually trying to solve problems. That would be my objective,” Clinton said at a paid appearance before the Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women. It was her first U.S. speech of 2015 and comes as she huddles with advisers about a possible campaign for the Democratic nomination.
Presidential politics was an undercurrent throughout her remarks and a question-and-answer session with Kara Swisher, the co-executive editor of technology media company Re/code. During her speech, the former secretary of state encouraged female technology executives to do more to help women grow in leadership.
“What you do does not have to be big and dramatic. You don’t have to run for office,” she said to knowing laughter and applause. “Although if you do, more power to you.”
Even in the high-flying technology sector, Clinton said, many women struggle in the workplace with policies related to family leave and child care. She pointed to Oscar winner Patricia Arquette’s appeals for pay equity at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony. “She’s right. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all,” Clinton said.
“In so many ways, our economy still seems to be operating like it’s 1955,” Clinton said. Describing a challenging economy for many workers, she said that “wages no longer rise with productivity while CEO pay keeps going up” and the nation would need to find balance in the economy so that all workers could benefit.
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