Hillary Clinton shifts to shed pro-Wall Street reputation

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took yet another subtle step toward the White House in 2016 by swiping at the very thing those in the progressive camp of her party accuse her of cozying up to — Wall Street.

At a campaign stop in Minnesota for Sen. Al Franken, Mrs. Clinton called for better oversight of banks, The Hill reported. She also roped herself in to the group of leading politicos who have been calling for stricter regulation of Wall Street — an apparent public response to those of Sen. Elizabeth Warren ilk who say the former first lady is just too pro-business to properly represent the Democratic Party in 2016.

“Al has pushed for more and better oversight of the big banks and risky financial activity, and there’s more work for him to do,” Mrs. Clinton said, The Hill reported. “Even before the meltdown, a lot of us were calling of regulating derivatives and other complex financial products, closing the carried interest loophole, getting control of skyrocketing CEO pay, addressing other excesses.”

Mrs. Clinton then said, “We’ve made progress,” but that more work needs to be done — laying the groundwork for her to spell out on a presumptive White house campaign trail exactly how she might help the little guy against the big banks.

“But there’s a lot of unfinished business to make sure we don’t end up once again with big banks taking big risks and leaving taxpayers holding the bag,” she said, The Hill reported. “And Al is the one who is really shining a spotlight on what needs to happen to avoid that.”

Ms. Warren has taken a tough stance on Wall Street types — to much applause from the liberal base of the party. Ms. Warren has also seemed to target Mrs. Clinton in her pro-business criticisms, saying at one point — and in seeming context of referring to the former senator from New York — that “I worry about everyone who is too close to Wall Street,” CNN reported.

Moreover, one of former president Bill Clinton’s greatest campaign strategies — as well as President Obama’s — has been to sound the populist alarm and highlight the abuses of big business toward the middle class in America.

Mrs. Clinton hasn’t formally announced a 2016 run for the White House, but she is largely held to be the candidate to beat among potential challenging Democrats.