While the political press corps moans about how Hillary Clinton isn't taking their questions and isn't talking to regular people, Clinton is ... out talking to people, and actually incorporating their top issues and concerns into her campaign. She turned her attention to
heroin addiction, for instance, after repeatedly hearing that it was a problem, and
that's not the only issue for which this is true. Clinton is actively relaying what she hears back to her campaign headquarters for staff to study at the policy level, on a range of issues:
Bryce Smith, a 23-year-old owner of a bowling alley near Des Moines, told Mrs. Clinton that his biggest challenge in starting a business was his $40,000 in student loans affecting his access to credit. “I went for education in college so I could teach, but I fell in love with bowling,” Mr. Smith said. “So that’s my biggest thing, is the barrier of entry and financing.”
Mrs. Clinton lit up. “We all know about the student loan debt, but I’ve never heard anyone so persuasively link it to the slowdown in business start-ups,” she said. “You’ve given me an insight that nobody else has and I’m grateful to you,” she told Mr. Smith.
Mrs. Clinton told her campaign team that the separate advisers working on college affordability and small-business policies needed to more closely coordinate, thanks to Mr. Smith, now a minor celebrity who is seeking elected office in Iowa. Mrs. Clinton sent Mr. Smith and other round-table participants handwritten notes thanking them for their insight.
Gosh, it's almost like answering inane reporter questions about Benghazi and email or taking shouted-out questions at big cattle call events is not the only way to talk about policy, and that having in-depth conversations with people, taking notes, and doing some research into the issues they raise could be good politics and good policy.
