Clinton: Imagine policies on the ballot next to my name

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Most Americans believe they are choosing between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump this November.

But Clinton and her top surrogates have claimed that democracy itself is actually on the ballot, along with justice, substance abuse disorders, the entire state of Florida, President Obama’s legacy, respect for women, climate change and more.

At a rally in Cleveland last Friday, Clinton even told her supporters to picture in their “mind’s eye … every issue you care about” on the ballot.

“See it next to my name,” she urged them.

Clinton and her top surrogates have been making this argument for weeks, urging voters to imagine a plethora of issues written on this year’s ballots in a sort of invisible ink. The tactic could help draw out voters, especially younger voters, turned off by this cycle’s relatively unpopular candidates. It also gives Clinton, who is leading Trump by an average of five points in national polls, an opportunity to advocate for her policies in the final two weeks of an election that has often focused on the personality and foibles of her opponent.

On Monday, Clinton told a crowd of several thousand people at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire that substance abuse, women’s rights and same-sex marriage rights are on the ballot next to her name. “If you believe women and girls should be treated with dignity and respect and that women should be able to make their own health care decisions, and that marriage equality should be protected, and that we have to take on the epidemic of substance abuse disorders and addiction, if you believe in a foreign policy where we work with our allies not insult them, achieve common goals for peace and prosperity, then you have to vote,” she said. “All of these issues are on the ballot this November.”

A Clinton campaign official said the device is a way for Clinton to focus on her own policy agenda instead of just running against Trump in her speeches. The campaign is also aware that polling suggests most Americans support many of the individual pieces of Clinton’s agenda, including marriage equality and a higher minimum wage. Reminding voters of the issues can drive support from people who are unsure about Clinton but back her policies. “It’s a very progressive agenda, but it’s also where most Americans are,” the official said.

In some speeches, Clinton has skipped the laundry list of specific issues and simply assured supporters that any issue they care about is on the ballot. “That’s why this election is so critically important because on the ballot, it is not just my name,” she said earlier this month at a rally in Miami with Al Gore. “It’s every issue we care about. It’s our values as a country.”

Gore, who has long sounded the alarm over climate change, backed her up, even telling supporters that “the entire state of Florida” was on the November ballot.

“And in this election, the future of Miami and cities up and down the West Coast and East Coast of Florida are on the ballot as well,” he said. “Indeed, the entire state of Florida and its future are on this ballot. So is our economy, our health, our national security.”

Other Clinton surrogates have also echoed this message. In September at the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner, Obama said he would consider it a “personal insult” if black voters do not show up to the polls. He said his legacy and more were “on the ballot.”

“My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot,” Obama said at the dinner. “Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Good schools are on the ballot. Ending mass incarceration, that’s on the ballot right now.”

“Hope is on the ballot,” he said, laying out the choice. “And fear is on the ballot too.”

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake said this approach “really appeals” to younger voters in particular, because they tend to want to choose and support individual issues they care about instead of simply backing a candidate. “That’s part of their approach to life — customizable, individual selection,” she said. “‘I’m in power, I make my own choice.’”

Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said he thinks Clinton’s listing of the issues helps her claim a mandate for her agenda if she maintains her lead over Trump in the final 14 days and winds up in the White House.

“After the election, Republicans will erroneously say that Clinton’s message was just anti-Trump. But, in fact, she’s gone further than anyone expected in campaigning on big progressive ideas over and over again,” Green said. “She’ s not just going out there and saying ‘love trumps hate.’ She’s saying, ‘Remember when you vote, these issues are at stake. This is the mandate I’m asking for in the election.’”