Friends and Allies Talking Points Hillary for America THE CORE MESSAGE Hillary Clinton is running because everyday Americans and their families need a champion. She can be that champion. From her start fighting for kids and families, she has done that all her life. She’s arguing that the deck is still stacked for those at the top – and that while corporations are raking in record profits and CEO pay is through the roof, everyday Americans are not getting ahead. It is their time to get ahead and stay ahead. Most Americans know that the economy has come back from the collapse but they don’t feel like they are getting ahead with stagnant wages and rising costs of living. They see those at the top benefiting from the improving economy and they are ready for it to be their turn. This election will be about who they can count on going forward – who can help them get ahead and stay ahead. Hillary’s record shows she’s a champion of everyday Americans and their families. Her mother’s own childhood – in which she was abandoned by her parents, taught Hillary that every child deserves a champion. That’s what motivated her to work on behalf of kids and families at the beginning of her career and continues to be her core motivation. Hillary’s life has been about fighting for the causes she believes in. She fought special interest forces all her career. She’s getting back into the fight because it’s been her lifetime work.  After law school, Hillary chose not to go to a big New York or Washington law firm. Instead, she went door to door in New Bedford, Massachusetts for the Children’s Defense Fund.  When the insurance companies and other special interests defeated her health care effort as First Lady, Hillary didn’t give up. She worked with Republicans and Democrats to help create the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provided health coverage to more than 8 million children and cut the uninsured rate for American children in half.  After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Hillary pushed the Bush Administration for $20 billion for recovery and to address health care for first responders who were contaminated at Ground Zero. Having grown up in a middle class family, Hillary has never forgotten where she comes from and who she’s fighting for. Hillary grew up in a middle class family in Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Her dad was a World War II veteran, he owned a small business, printing drapery, he operated the press himself, and Hillary and her two brothers helped out. Voters know the country has made progress since 2009 – they don’t want to go back. This election will be about who they can count on going forward. Voters don’t want a complete change in direction. They know the Obama Administration has worked hard to turn around the economy and pave the way for more Americans to get back to work.