Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign: Difference between revisions

Hillary for America
Campaign	Democratic primaries, 2016 U.S. presidential election, 2016
Candidate	Hillary Clinton 67th U.S. Secretary of State (2009–13) Tim Kaine U.S. Senator from Virginia (2013–present)
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Status	Announced: April 12, 2015 Official launch: June 13, 2015 Presumptive nominee: June 7, 2016 Official nominee: July 26, 2016
Headquarters	1 Pierrepont Plaza Brooklyn, New York[1]
Key people	John Podesta (chair) Huma Abedin (vice chair) Robby Mook (manager) Joel Benenson (chief strategist) Jim Margolis (media strategist) Jennifer Palmieri (communications director) Brian Fallon (press secretary) Stephanie Hannon (technology) Amanda Renteria (national political director) Marc Elias (general counsel) Nick Merrill (spokesperson)[2] Dennis Cheng (national finance director)[3]
Receipts	US$274,537,985[4] (2016-06-30)
Slogan	I'm with her Stronger together
Website
hillaryclinton.com

This article is part of a series about Hillary Clinton
Political positions Electoral history First Lady of the United States Tenure Health care plan Children's Health Insurance Program Adoption and Safe Families Act Foster Care Independence Act Vital Voices "Vast right-wing conspiracy" Save America's Treasures White House Millennium Council Hillaryland Whitewater controversy White House travel office controversy White House FBI files controversy Cattle futures controversy Response to Lewinsky scandal U.S. Senator from New York Tenure 2000 election 2006 re-election U.S. Secretary of State Tenure Foreign trips Benghazi attack Obama's foreign policy QDDR Email controversy Hillary Doctrine 2008 presidential campaign Campaign Primaries Convention Endorsements 2016 presidential campaign Campaign Primaries Convention Debates Election Vice Presidential Selection Basket of deplorables Political endorsements Non-political endorsements Celebrities Screen and stage performers Organizations Clinton Foundation State Department controversy Onward Together Honors and awards Bibliography Legal career Career in corporate governance Tenures as First Lady of Arkansas Activities after 2016 Public image
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The 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, the 67th United States Secretary of State, was announced in a YouTube video, on April 12, 2015.^[5]

Hillary Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, was the United States Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009 and served as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. The runner-up in the 2008 Democratic primaries, her candidacy in the 2016 election is her second bid for the presidency.

Clinton's main competitor in the Democratic nomination contest was Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. During the primary elections, she had the most support from middle aged and older voters and from black, Latino and female voters. She has focused her platform on several issues, including expanding racial and women's rights, raising wages and ensuring equal pay for women, and improving healthcare.

On June 6, 2016, the Associated Press declared Clinton the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party after she reached the required number of delegates, including both pledged delegates and superdelegates. Sanders endorsed her candidacy on July 12, 2016.^[6] Delegates voted at the Democratic National Convention that took place between July 25–28, 2016.^{[7][8][9][10]} On July 22, 2016, Hillary Clinton announced Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate.^[11] On July 26, 2016, Clinton and Kaine were officially nominated at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.^[12]

Clinton announced her decision to run for the 2008 presidential election on January 20, 2007. Early in the race, she was considered the frontrunner for the Democratic Party, and actively sought her party's nomination. Clinton ran ahead in the polls, until Illinois Senator Barack Obama began pulling ahead following the South Carolina primary. In the prolonged primary battle that ensued, during which she received more than 18 million votes, Clinton lost the nomination to Obama. Obama won the general election against Arizona Republican Senator John McCain on November 4, 2008.

As soon as Clinton ended her 2008 campaign there was talk of her running again in 2012 or 2016.^[13] After she ended her tenure as Secretary of State in 2013, speculation picked up sharply, particularly when she listed her occupation on social media as "TBD". In the meantime, Clinton earned over $11 million giving 51 paid speeches to various organizations.^[14]

Anticipating a future run, a "campaign-in-waiting" began to take shape in 2014, including a large donor network, experienced operatives, the Ready for Hillary and Priorities USA Action campaign political action committees (PACs), and other campaign infrastructure.^[15]

By September 2013, amid continual political and media speculation, Clinton said she was considering a run but was in no hurry to decide.^[16] In late 2013, Clinton told ABC's Barbara Walters that she would, "look carefully at what I think I can do and make that decision sometime next year";^[17] and told ABC's Diane Sawyer in June 2014 that she would, "be on the way to making a decision before the end of the year".^[18]

While many political analysts came to assume during this time that Clinton would run, she took a long time to make the decision.^[19] While Clinton said she spent much of the two years following her tenure as Secretary of State thinking about the possibility of running for president again, she was also noncommittal about the prospect, and appeared to some as reluctant to experience again the unpleasant aspects of a major political campaign.^[20] Those around her were split in their opinions, reportedly, with Bill Clinton said to be the most in favor of her running again, Chelsea Clinton leaning towards it, but several of her closest aides against it.^[19][20] She reportedly studied Obama's 2008 campaign to see what had gone right for Obama as compared to her own campaign.^[20] Not until December 2014, around the time of the Clintons' annual winter vacation in the Dominican Republic, did she say she decided for sure that she would indeed run again.^[19][20]

According to nationwide opinion polls in early 2015, Clinton was considered the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.^[16][21][22] She had gained a broader sweep of early endorsements from the Democratic Party establishment in the 2016 race than she did in 2008,^[23][24] although she did face several primary election challengers,^[25][26] and, in August 2015 Vice President Joe Biden was reported to be seriously considering a possible challenge to Clinton.^[27]

Clinton has a very high name recognition of an estimated 99% (only 11% of all voters said they did not know enough about her to form an opinion) and according to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, she has had strong support from African-Americans, and among college-educated women and single women.^[28]

In Time magazine's 2015 list of "The 100 Most Influential People", Clinton praised Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who herself was considered as a potential challenger to Clinton, for being a "progressive champion".^[29] Warren has repeatedly stated that she is not running for president, despite pressure from some progressives who have expressed concerns about Clinton's ties with Wall Street.^[30]

The Clinton campaign had planned for a delayed announcement, possibly as late as July.^[31][32][33]

On April 3, 2015, it was reported that Clinton had taken a lease on a small office at 1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn, New York City. It was widely speculated that the space would serve as her campaign headquarters.^[34][35]

On April 12, 2015, Clinton released a YouTube video formally announcing her candidacy via email. She stated that, "Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion."^{[36][37][38][39]} The week following her announcement, she traveled to early primary states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire. Clinton was the third candidate with support in national polls to announce her candidacy, following Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced his candidacy on April 13, the day after Clinton. Some Democrats saw the proximity of Clinton's campaign announcement to Rubio's as advantageous, as Clinton's announcement might overshadow Rubio's.^[40]

Clinton began her campaign by making short trips to early primary and caucus states.^[36] Immediately following her announcement, she made a two-day road trip in a customized Chevrolet Express van, nicknamed after Scooby-Doo, going from New York to Iowa, and stopping several times along the way, including a much publicized stop at a Chipotle Mexican Grill outside Toledo, Ohio, where Clinton was not recognized by the staff.^[41][42][43] The trip gained considerable media attention and was, according her campaign, intended as a bit of political theater.^[44][45]

Clinton responded to very few questions from the press during the first month of her campaign. During her visits to early primary and caucus states, she did not hold any formal press conferences, and did not participate in any media interviews.^[46][47] On May 19, 2015, after 28 days, Clinton answered some questions from reporters at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.^[48] Clinton's campaign announced she would make additional stops in Florida, Texas, and Missouri in May and June.^[49]

Clinton held her first major campaign rally June 13, 2015, at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on the southern tip of New York City's Roosevelt Island.

In her speech, Clinton addressed income inequality in the United States, specifically endorsed universal pre-kindergarten, paid family leave, equal pay for women, college affordability, and incentives for companies that provide profit sharing to employees.^[50] She did not address free trade agreements during the kickoff speech,^[51] but made statements the next day suggesting that the current negotiations should be abandoned unless improved.^[52]

The campaign said more than 5,500 people were in attendance, but estimates of crowd size by the press in attendance were less.^[53]

According to John Cassidy, staff writer at The New Yorker, Clinton, up to a point, took a populist tone:^[54]

While many of you are working multiple jobs to make ends meet, you see the top twenty-five hedge-fund managers making more than all of America's kindergarten teachers combined. And often paying a lower tax rate. So, you have to wonder, ‘When does my hard work pay off? When does my family get ahead? When?’^[54]

Prosperity can’t be just for C.E.O.s and hedge-fund managers. 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.^[54]

In August 2015, the Clinton campaign began a $2 million television advertising buy in Iowa and New Hampshire.^[55] The ads featured footage of Clinton's late mother, Dorothy Rodham, and of Clinton herself,^[55] and featured women, family, and children.^[55]

Clinton has focused her candidacy on several themes, including raising middle class incomes, expanding women's rights, instituting campaign finance reform, and improving the Affordable Care Act.

In March 2016, she laid out a detailed economic plan, which The New York Times called "optimistic" and "wide-ranging".^[56] Basing her economic philosophy on inclusive capitalism, Clinton proposed a "clawback" which would rescind tax relief and other benefits for companies that move jobs overseas; providing incentives for companies that share profits with employees, communities and the environment, rather than focusing on short-term profits to increase stock value and rewarding shareholders; increasing collective bargaining rights; and placing an "exit tax" on companies that move their headquarters out of America in order to pay a lower tax rate overseas.^[56] Clinton opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), supports the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and holds that "any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security".^[57][58]

Given the climate of unlimited campaign contributions following the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, Clinton has called for a constitutional amendment to limit "unaccountable money" in politics.^[59] In July 2016, she has "committed" to introducing a U.S. constitutional amendment that would result in overturning the 2010 Citizens United decision.^[60][61]

She believes in equal pay for equal work, to address current shortfalls in how much women are paid to do the same jobs men do.^[62]

Clinton has explicitly focused on family issues and supports universal preschool.^[59]

On LGBT rights, she supports the right to same-sex marriage enshrined in the constitution.^[59]

Clinton holds that allowing undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship "[i]s at its heart a family issue."^[63]

Clinton has expressed support for Common Core.^[64] She says, "The really unfortunate argument that's been going on around Common Core, it's very painful because the Common Core started off as a bipartisan effort. It was actually nonpartisan. It wasn’t politicized.... Iowa has had a testing system based on a core curriculum for a really long time. And [speaking to Iowans] you see the value of it, you understand why that helps you organize your whole education system. And a lot of states unfortunately haven’t had that, and so don’t understand the value of a core, in this sense a Common Core."^[65]

On December 7, 2015, in The New York Times, Clinton presented her detailed plans for regulating Wall Street financial activities and related.^[66] She proposes reining in the largest institutions to limit risky behavior, appointing strong regulators, and holding executives accountable.

Clinton is in favor of maintaining American influence in the Middle East. She opposes and criticized Trump's call to ban Muslims from the United States. She told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, "America can’t ever be neutral when it comes to Israel's security and survival."^[67]

Clinton campaign strategists reportedly believed that a strong liberal campaign would mobilize the same voters who swept Barack Obama to victory in 2008 and 2012. Her strategy of embracing Obama's policies proved highly effective with African American Democratic voters in the South Carolina Democratic primary.^{[68][69][70][71]}

By March 2016 Clinton's nomination seemed likely, so efforts turned to structuring a campaign against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee,^[72] and determining how to generate enthusiasm for Clinton among the Democratic electorate, which had not turned out in large numbers for primaries.^[73]

Clinton began the campaign with near-universal name recognition among voters, having been First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State.^[74]

When Clinton campaigns in a state such as Mississippi she identifies local issues of interest to the Democratic voters of the state. For example, in Mississippi, she has expressed her concern about lead levels in the water in Jackson, the capital, where it is a hot issue. In other states there are other issues, whatever is the focus of attention.^[75]

Over the course of her campaign, Clinton has emphasized her experience and record in public life, particular as secretary of state.^[76][77] Clinton has also emphasized "the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House" in times of uncertainly, as well as the need to maintain the U.S.'s alliances across the Atlantic and the world.^[78][79]

Clinton has had an uneasy, and at times adversarial relationship with the press throughout her life in public service.^[80] Weeks before her official entry as a presidential candidate, Clinton attended a political press corps event, pledging to start fresh on what she described as a "complicated" relationship with political reporters.^[81] Clinton was initially criticized by the press for avoiding taking their questions,^[82][83] after which she provided more interviews.

Throughout the general election campaign, Clinton has consistently led Trump in fundraising. Through August 2016, Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and Clinton's main super PAC, Priorities USA Action, had raised more than $700 million, while Trump had brought in $400 million.^[84] According to a September 2016 analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, "More than 1,100 elite moneymen and women have collectively raised more than $113 million" for Clinton's campaign. These bundlers, who collect checks from friends or associates and give them to the campaign, include "lawmakers, entertainment icons and titans of industry"; among them are Ben Affleck, George Lucas, Marissa Mayer, and Sheryl Sandberg.^[85]

According to an article in The Washington Post, Clinton's presidential campaign is benefiting from a network of donors whom the Clintons "have methodically cultivated donors over 40 years, from Little Rock to Washington and then across the globe. Their fundraising methods have created a new blueprint for politicians and their donors."^[86] By the end of September 2015, the campaign's fundraising effort for "Clinton's 2016 White House run ... has already drawn $110 million in support".^[86]

In response to the article, a campaign spokesman said that "it would be misleading, at best, to conflate donations to a philanthropy with political giving.... And regarding the campaign contributions, the breadth and depth of their support is a testament to the fact that they have both dedicated their lives to public service and fighting to make this country stronger."^[86] As the Post article points out, fundraising for the 2016 presidential campaign exists "in a dramatically different environment" than in the past, and the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision and ruling by "the Supreme Court has made it easier for wealthy individuals, corporations and unions to spend huge, unregulated sums on political activity".^[86] In the fall of 2015, the Clinton campaign "set up a joint fundraising committee with the Democratic National Committee and 32 state committees that can accept up to $356,100 per year from an individual donor – the first 2016 candidate to pursue such a tactic. Unlike Sanders, [Clinton's campaign] has sanctioned big-money super PACs working on her behalf, including one coordinating directly with her campaign."^[86]

In the debate between Sanders and Clinton in New Hampshire prior to the New Hampshire primary Clinton, objecting to the inference that campaign contributions or speaking fees from the financial sector would influence her political decisions, characterized Sanders's references to her Wall Street connections as "'very artful smear' campaign."^[87] He responded by saying, "It's a fact. When in the last reporting period her super PAC received $25 million and $15 million came from Wall Street, what is the smear? That is the fact."^[88]

A major donor, who contributed to Clinton's presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2016, as well as the Clinton Foundation, was appointed by Secretary Clinton to a top State Department intelligence board in 2011. According to the press, the donor had no clear qualifications for the position. He resigned the position, which gave him Top Secret security clearance and access to highly sensitive information, after a reporter from ABC News made inquiries about his appointment. The situation came to light when emails were released by the State Department in June 2016.^[89][90]

The Clinton campaign entered September 2016 with $121.4 million in the bank, while the Trump campaign had $96 million.^[91]

In May 2015, it was reported that the Clinton campaign lagged behind opposing Republican campaigns in gaining large donations from wealthy donors to supportive Super PACs. At that time, many potential liberal, big-money donors had not yet committed to support Clinton.^[92] Clinton's super PAC fundraising picked up significantly in the general election. Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC supporting Clinton, raised $23.4 million in August 2016. More than half of that amount came from its top five donors, and the amount included 11 seven-figure checks.^[93]

Super PACs that have supported Clinton include:^[94]

• Ready PAC, formerly Ready for Hillary, was founded by Clinton supporters in January 2013. It raised money and signed up supporters in expectation of her presidential bid.^[95] The super PAC "received $133,246 from lobbying firms linked to" the GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America.^[96] Ready PAC wound down operations in April 2015, handing over its 4-million person email list to the Clinton campaign.^[97]
• Priorities USA Action is the main super PAC supporting Clinton's candidacy. It is focused mainly on high-dollar donors. As of September 2016, it had amassed $132 million. The top six donors to the super PAC have given $43.5 million, which is a third of the money collected by Priorities USA Action.^[98] Top contributors include George Soros, Haim Saban and Thomas Tull.^[99] Other major donors include Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.^[99] Following Clinton's loss in the New Hampshire primary, Priorities USA Action committed $500,000 to a radio campaign in South Carolina and $4.5 million to Super Tuesday primaries.^[100][101] As of late January 2016, the fund had $45 million.^[102] The super PAC raised $21.7 million in August 2016, marking its largest monthly fundraising haul.^[98]
• Correct the Record, which started as a campaign of American Bridge 21st Century, spun off as a separate super PAC in May 2015. Though super PACs are typically prohibited from coordinating with campaigns, Correct the Record coordinates with the Clinton campaign on digital content.^[103][104] A spokeswoman for the super PAC said "the coordination restriction would not apply because Correct the Record's defense of Mrs. Clinton would be built around material posted on the group's own website, not paid media."^[105] In April 2016, Correct the Record announced it would spend $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about Clinton.^{[106][107][108]} In September 2016, Correct the Record announced a project called "Trump Leaks." Correct the Record says it will pay anonymous tipsters for unflattering scoops about Donald Trump, including audio and video recordings and internal documents.^[109]

Robby Mook serves as campaign manager, and is the first openly gay person to serve in that role in a major presidential campaign.^[110][111]

Stephanie Hannon serves as chief technology officer, and is the first female to serve in that role in a major presidential campaign.^{[112][113][114]}

Other campaign staff include John Podesta as campaign chairman, Joel Benenson as chief strategist and pollster, Jennifer Palmieri as communications director, and Amanda Renteria as policy director.^[115] Longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin is the vice chairwoman of the campaign,^[115] and continues in the role she has long played for Clinton as traveling chief of staff and "body woman".^[116] Fundraising is lead by Dennis Cheng as national finance director for the campaign, and main liaison between many major donors and Clinton.^[117]

Within the campaign, longtime Clinton staffer Jake Sullivan serves as policy director, and Michael Schmidt, Michael Shapiro and Jacob Leibenluft are on Clinton's policy team.^[118]

The Clinton campaign has a large set of outside policy advisors who serve on advisory groups. On foreign policy, senior extent advisors include includes former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Center for a New American Security CEO Michèle Flournoy, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and others.^[119][120] The campaign also has a decentralized system of "about a dozen advisory working groups for regional and functional issues" such as Asia, Europe, counter-terrorism, and human rights. Foreign Policy magazine reports that "the campaign boasts a surprisingly diverse cadre of experts, from early-career think tankers in their 20s to graying ex-diplomats in their 50s and 60s."^[119]

On economic policy, outside advisors with whom Clinton regularly consults include Gene Sperling, former director of the National Economic Council; Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress; Ann O'Leary; economists Alan Krueger and Alan Blinder; Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz; Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist to Joe Biden; and Heather Boushey.^[118]

Two of the Clinton campaigns' top media buying agencies are GMMB (which focuses on television) and Bully Pulpit Interactive (which focuses on digital). The Clinton campaign's analytics director is Elan Kriegel, the co-founder of BlueLabs, a Democratic data firm.^[121] The campaign has also hired Burrell Communications, an African American advertising firm.^[122]

Graphic designer Michael Bierut of the firm Pentagram designed the campaign's distinctive "H" logo; Buerut volunteered his services.^[123][124]

Professionals in branding and marketing, such as Wendy Clark of Coca Cola, and Roy Spence of GSD&M, have been brought into the campaign to assist with "re-branding" Clinton.^[125]

Clinton won Iowa by the closest margin in the history of the state's Democratic caucus. O'Malley suspended^[a] his campaign after a distant third-place finish, leaving Clinton and Sanders the only two candidates. The electoral battle turned out to be more competitive than expected, with Sanders winning the New Hampshire primary while Clinton scored victories in the Nevada caucuses and South Carolina primary. On four different Super Tuesdays, Clinton secured numerous important wins in each of the nine most populous states including California, New York, Florida, and Texas, while Sanders scored various victories in between.^[127]

On June 6, 2016, the Associated Press and NBC News stated that Clinton had become the presumptive nominee after reaching the required number of delegates, including both pledged and unpledged delegates (superdelegates), to secure the nomination. In doing so, she had become the first woman to ever be the presumptive nominee of any major political party in the United States.^[128] On June 7, Clinton officially secured a majority of pledged delegates after winning in the California and New Jersey primaries.^[129] President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren formally endorsed Clinton on June 9, 2016.^[130][131] Sanders confirmed on June 24 that he would vote for Clinton over Donald Trump in the general election^[132] and, on July 12, 2016, formally endorsed Clinton in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^[133]

On July 26, 2016, the Democratic National Convention officially nominated Clinton for President and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for Vice President.^[134]

The table below reflects the presumed delegate count following the 2016 Democratic primaries:

Candidate	Pledged delegates	Presumed Count, including superdelegates
Hillary Clinton	2,205	2,775½✓
Bernie Sanders	1,846	1,889½
Martin O'Malley	0	1
Available delegates	0	97
Total delegate votes	4,051	4,763

The first Presidential debate in 2016 took place between Clinton and Trump on September 26 at Hofstra University.^[135] This made Clinton the first woman to debate as part of an American presidential debate.^[136]

In July 2015, Clinton became the first 2016 presidential candidate to publicly release a medical history. The Clinton campaign released a letter from her physician, Lisa Bardack of Mount Kisco, New York, attesting to her good health based on a full medical evaluation.^[137] The letter noted that there has been a "complete resolution" of a brain concussion that Clinton suffered in 2012 and "total dissolution" of prior blood clots.^[137] Bardack concluded that Clinton had no serious health issues that would interfere with her fitness to serve as president.^[137]

In September 2016, Clinton developed pneumonia. After leaving a 9/11 commemoration ceremony early,^{[138][139][140][141]} she spent three days recovering at home, canceling several campaign events, before returning to the campaign trail at a rally at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.^[142] Clinton released supplementary health records from her physician, Dr. Bardack, who found that she had "a mild non-contagious bacterial pneumonia" and had recovered well with antibiotics and rest. Dr. Bardack wrote: "She continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as President of the United States."^[143][144]

In March 2015, Clinton's practice of using her own private email address and server during her time as Secretary of State, in lieu of State Department servers, gained widespread public attention.^[145] Concerns were raised about security and preservation of emails, and the possibility that laws may have been violated.^[146] Nearly 2,100 emails contained in Clinton's server were determined to be classified when the state department had an opportunity to review them. According to Clinton they were not marked classified at the time she handled them. 65 emails were found to contain information classified as "Secret", more than 20 contained "Top-Secret" information, and the rest contained "Confidential" information.^{[147][148][149][150]} Government policy, reiterated in the nondisclosure agreement signed by Clinton as part of gaining her security clearance, is that sensitive information should be considered and handled as classified even if not marked as such.^[151] After allegations were raised that some of the emails in question fell into this so-called "born classified" category, an FBI probe was initiated regarding how classified information was handled on the Clinton server.^{[151][152][153][154]} The probe was concluded on July 5, 2016 with a recommendation of no charges, a decision that was followed by the Justice Department.

On October 22, 2015, Clinton testified for a second time before the Benghazi Committee and answered members' questions for more than eight hours in a public hearing.^{[155][156][157]} The New York Times reported that "the long day of often-testy exchanges between committee members and their prominent witness revealed little new information about an episode that has been the subject of seven previous investigations...Perhaps stung by recent admissions that the pursuit of Mrs. Clinton's emails was politically motivated, Republican lawmakers on the panel for the most part avoided any mention of her use of a private email server."^[155] The email issue did arise shortly before lunch, in a "a shouting match" between Republican committee chair Trey Gowdy and two Democrats, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings.^[155] Late in the hearing, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, accused Clinton of changing her accounts of the email service, leading to a "heated exchange" in which Clinton "repeated that she had made a mistake in using a private email account, but maintained that she had never sent or received anything marked classified and had sought to be transparent by publicly releasing her emails."^[155]

According to The Hill, the hearings provided a positive momentum for Clinton's 2016 campaign, with her performance generating headlines such as "Marathon Benghazi hearing leaves Hillary Clinton largely unscathed" (CNN), and "GOP lands no solid punches while sparring with Clinton over Benghazi" (The Washington Post). Her campaign received a windfall of donations, mostly coming from new donors.^[158]

In national polling, Clinton has enjoyed "the highest level of female support of any candidate in more than four decades," with a 24-point lead in among female registered voters in a Pew Research Center taken on the eve of the 2016 Democratic National Convention.^[159] The same polling also showed a 16-percentage point difference in support among women and men, a historically unprecedented gender gap.^[159]

In the South Carolina Democratic primary, 6 out of 7 African American Democrats voted for Clinton.^[68] Clinton has advocated criminal justice reform as well as support for African-American youth.^[160]

Clinton has made LGBT rights a central issue in her campaign. In addition to promoting broader LGBT rights, she also advocates for the right for transgender people to serve in the military.^[161] In the past few years, her public position on same sex marriage has evolved.

Clinton has been supportive of many LGBT-rights issues over much of her career, but opposed same-sex marriage, "favoring arrangements like civil unions", a position which "largely tracked public opinion".^[162][163] In 2004, she opposed a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and in 2006 she said she would not oppose an effort by New York State officials to legalize same-sex marriage.^[162] In March 2013, she formally stated her support for same-sex marriage after stepping down as Secretary of State, stating she supported it "personally and as a matter of policy and law."^[162][164]

Clinton condemned Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.^[165] She supported the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.^[166] She also endorsed the Equality Act of 2015.^[167][168]

In December 2015, Clinton published a plan for LGBT rights.^[169] The next month, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed her for president.^[170] She criticized Bernie Sanders for calling the Human Rights Campaign "part of the establishment."^[171][172]

In an interview with MSNBC at Nancy Reagan's funeral service, Clinton credited Reagan with starting the national conversation about AIDS. Clinton's comments drew heavy criticism from LGBT groups and the media, who said that the Reagans had ignored the issue, causing Clinton to apologize and retract her statement.^[173]

Clinton has been endorsed by The New York Times,^[174] Los Angeles Times,^[175] Houston Chronicle,^[176] The Cincinnati Enquirer,^[177][178] The Dallas Morning News,^[179] and The Arizona Republic,^[180] editorial boards. The Houston Chronicle traditionally endorses Republicans later in the election, but chose to endorse Clinton in July. The Dallas Morning News had not endorsed a Democrat for president since 1940. The Cincinnati Enquirer had not endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate for almost 100 years. The Arizona Republic, which began publishing in 1890, had never endorsed a Democratic candidate.

• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

• Official website
  • Campaign biography, "Hillary's Story"
• Official Presidential Launch Speech (45:40) – (June 13, 2015; Roosevelt Island, NYC, NY). on YouTube
• Hillary Clinton's top 10 campaign promises on PolitiFact.com
• Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign on Ballotpedia.org
• Hillary Clinton's fundraising data on OpenSecrets.org