Clinton to barnstorm Capitol Hill

Hillary Clinton will barnstorm Capitol Hill on Tuesday in a series of private meetings with Democrats in both chambers.

The packed schedule allows Clinton, the front-runner for the party’s presidential nomination, to pitch her campaign to congressional allies. That includes black, Hispanic, progressive and Asian Pacific American caucuses, which will all have separate forums with the former secretary of State.

To launch the day, Clinton will huddle privately with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) before meeting the entire House Democratic Caucus.

{mosads}The whirlwind tour will also put Clinton face to face with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), her closest rival in the Democratic primary, for the first time in the race.

Sanders, a liberal icon, has emerged as a surprisingly strong candidate since launching his campaign two months ago, raising $15 million, attracting huge crowds and making big gains on Clinton recently among Democratic voters in Iowa, which will host the country’s first nominating contest.

He seems less popular with his colleagues, however.

At least 115 Democrats — 30 senators and 85 House members — have already endorsed Clinton, according to The Hill’s running tally, while none has come out thus far for Sanders.

Sanders frequently speaks out at Senate Democratic lunches — so often that colleagues sometimes joke about it, according to one regular attendee.

But he’s not expected to offer a counterpoint during Clinton’s appearance. Instead, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will give him time at a future lunch to make his case for winning the nomination.

“Tomorrow is Hillary’s day. Bernie day will be in the future,” said a Democratic aide.

While Clinton is widely expected to defeat Sanders, she is not taking the contest for granted. If Sanders gives her a tougher-than-expected challenge, drawing the primary out into the late spring, the votes of lawmakers, who will serve as superdelegates at the Philadelphia convention, could prove crucial.

Tuesday’s meetings offer Clinton an opportunity to show how she’d deal with her allies on Capitol Hill differently than President Obama has. Many Democrats grumble he has run an insular White House that hasn’t done nearly enough to communicate with Democratic lawmakers.

It is also an opportunity for lawmakers to press Clinton for specifics on what she’d do as president, something she’s largely avoided on the campaign trail.

In the left-leaning House, a number of liberals have pressed Clinton to take a stronger stand on issues like Obama’s trade agenda and an expansion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, two thorny debates she’s been reluctant to enter.

Sanders has repeatedly raised questions about Clinton’s positions on those issues, casting himself as the true populist and defender of the middle class, an argument he amplified over the weekend.

“On issue after issue, whether it’s raising minimum wage to $15 an hour, whether it is the trade agreement … she has not been clear on it — there are very significant differences of opinion that we have,” Sanders said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Leaders of the Progressive Caucus intend to broach a number of those issues on Tuesday, including the $15 minimum wage, the need for tougher Wall Street regulations and an expansion of Social Security.

Clinton appears to recognize those concerns and on Monday she outlined a sweeping economic agenda that included calls to hike the minimum wage (without naming a number), rein in Wall Street traders and establish “a high bar” for trade deals.

“Trade has been a major driver of the economy over recent decades but it has also contributed to hollowing out our manufacturing base and many hard-working communities,” she said. “We should support [agreements] if they create jobs, raise wages and advance our national security. And we should be prepared to walk away if they don’t.”

Hispanic members of the House Democratic Caucus want to hear commitments on immigration reform.

“We look forward to hearing from Secretary Hillary Clinton on policy issues important to the Latino community. The Latino agenda is the American agenda, and every issue from immigration to education and the economy impacts us. We will discuss priorities of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which advocates for the 52 million Latinos in our country,” said Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.).

On the Senate side, liberals led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — who some on the left had hoped would challenge Clinton herself — want to hear her talk tougher about the need to regulate Wall Street.

Sanders has hammered the subject of Wall Street greed more consistently than Clinton, who has a cozier relationship with the financial services industry, stemming from her time representing its major hub, New York, in the Senate from 2001 to 2009.

“As we prepare to mark the five-year anniversary of the Wall Street Reform law, I’m encouraged to hear Secretary Clinton’s strong defense of critical consumer protections and safeguards against the risky practices that put our economy on the brink of collapse,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in a statement. “I hope she will continue to draw this stark contrast between her candidacy and those who would like to return us to the days when unfair lending and lax supervision cost Americans their homes, their jobs, and their retirement savings.”

Democrats are also looking for inspiration from Clinton. The party is in the minority in the House and Senate and hopes that a strong presidential candidate might help it win back the Senate, at least, in 2016.

“I’m certain what they want to hear is how if she is nominated, how she plans to help take back the Senate. They’ve heard her speeches. They’re not going to want to have a policy address. They’re going to want to know politics. She’s going to raise a lot of money; can it help them?” said Bob Borosage, co-director of Campaign For America’s Future, a liberal advocacy group.

The House is a tougher climb for Democrats, and Clinton last week spoke of hoping to narrow the margin of the GOP majority. That set her message apart from Pelosi, who has said that Democrats could win back the majority next year.

Senate Democrats expect Clinton to explain how she would manage Congress differently than the president.

“How a Clinton White House would deal with the Hill would be one thing they would be interested in. There’s been a lot of talk about how people aren’t thrilled with the current administration and how they handle Democrats in Congress,” said a Senate Democratic aide.