海角大神

No one would mistake Hillary Clinton for Bernie Sanders. But the Democratic presidential nominee, speaking on her economic agenda Thursday in Michigan, clearly channeled her vanquished rival as she pushed for policies to help working Americans, promote 鈥渇airness鈥� in taxation, and address inequality.

Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 pitch to the middle class aimed to contrast with the agenda unveiled in Detroit on Monday by Donald Trump, a plan, she said 鈥� using Sanders-esque language 鈥� that "would give trillions in tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, and Wall Street money managers."

Clinton also coined a new term: the 鈥淭rump loophole,鈥� referring to his proposed changes to the tax code that she said would allow the businessman-turned-politician to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies.

And Clinton repeated her vow to kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade arrangement among Pacific Rim nations, including the United States, that she supported as secretary of State and is still backed by President Obama. Many Americans blame international trade for stagnant wages and the long-term decline in American manufacturing.

鈥淚 oppose it now, I鈥檒l oppose it after the election, and I鈥檒l oppose it as president,鈥� Clinton said.

In reinforcing her recent leftward shift, Clinton seemed to be trying to energize the significant segment of the Democratic electorate that backed Senator Sanders in the primaries. Polls show Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters largely unified behind her 鈥� certainly more so than Republicans around Trump 鈥� but it鈥檚 unclear how motivated they are.

Then there鈥檚 the challenge of attracting Republicans who reject Trump and who may be available to Clinton if she doesn鈥檛 go too far to the left. It is a needle she has three months to thread.

But energizing, or even holding on to, young Sanders supporters could also be challenging.聽Among young Sanders supporters, 鈥渕uch of that backing [for Clinton] is grudging, with turnout an open question and support for third-party candidates posing a potential risk to Clinton,鈥� writes Sofi Sinozich of ABC News, which released on young voters Thursday.聽

The 'Sanders effect'

Analysts saw a 鈥淪anders effect鈥� in Clinton鈥檚 speech Thursday.

On TPP, 鈥淚 think she鈥檚 feeling the pressure on that鈥� because of the Sanders campaign, says Dean Baker, co-founder of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. 鈥淭his is a much stronger statement. It鈥檚 unqualified. Nothing鈥檚 ever 100 percent,but it would certainly make it more difficult as president to turn around and say otherwise.鈥�

On the federal minimum wage, Clinton has tried not to commit to the Sanders campaign demand for $15 an hour, though it鈥檚 in the Democratic Party platform, and Thursday鈥檚 speech took that approach, not saying how much she鈥檇 push for.

鈥淚t鈥檚 perfectly reasonable for her to say we want a higher minimum wage 鈥� but she hasn鈥檛 committed herself to $15 an hour,鈥� says Mr. Baker.

Her challenge is to connect with working-class voters who don鈥檛 see Clinton as聽fighting in their corner.

鈥淧eople want to hear that she鈥檚 actually talking to them,鈥� Baker says. 鈥淲hether she can convince them that she has programs that will make a difference remains to be seen鈥�. She should be doing better among these people.鈥�

Oren Cass, senior fellow at the free-market Manhattan Institute, is critical of her spending promises on clean energy, infrastructure, and tax breaks to create high paying jobs, and compares her plan to the Obama economic stimulus plan of 2009.

鈥淲e鈥檒l see what the ultimate price tag is,鈥� says Mr. Cass, who was domestic policy director of 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney鈥檚 campaign. 鈥淏ut it sounds an awful lot like the [Obama] stimulus.鈥�

Little attention on the poor

Cass also observes that Clinton鈥檚 speech said little about the poor, with no mention of inner-city poverty. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something of a disconnect between rhetoric that鈥檚 focused on the bottom quintile and people who can鈥檛 really make it in America today and who鈥檚 she talking to, the middle class.鈥�

Cass compares Clinton鈥檚 trade agenda to Trump鈥檚, and agrees that the US should be tough on enforcement of trade abuses by China and others. 鈥淭he first part sounded like an Obama stimulus 鈥� and then like you鈥檙e signing off on the Trump trade agenda.鈥�

Cass offered grudging praise for her assertion that skilled trade jobs need to be filled and that not everyone needs to attend four-year college, which he calls an idea of the left.

鈥淭he idea that we need a lot of different pathways to good careers is a good thing,鈥� he says. But he questions how will it work, beyond tax credits for paid apprenticeships.

David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution, was also struck by how emphatic Clinton was in her opposition to the TPP 鈥� and how she didn鈥檛 stick up for the positive side of trade.

Free-trade advocates argue that trade is, in fact, , and for most Americans, a net positive in financial terms.聽

Clinton鈥檚 new position on trade is awkward, says Mr. Wessel, because she isn鈥檛 really anti-trade. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to believe that she would run an economically isolated presidency,鈥� he says.

Wessel sees her speech as 鈥渁imed at the middle class and working people who are not聽already in the Trump camp and are not already in the Hillary Clinton camp, and are trying to figure out what to do.鈥�

Clinton offered some policy details, but placed more emphasis on the 鈥渇airness.鈥�

鈥淪he wants to make clear that she wants the tax code to reduce the gap between winners and loser in our economy and he [Trump] doesn鈥檛,鈥� says Wessel, citing Trump鈥檚 proposal to eliminate the estate tax 鈥� a position Clinton rejects.

鈥淪he鈥檚 clearly trying to poke him where he鈥檚 vulnerable in style and substance, and give enough of an affirmative case that she鈥檒l do something.鈥�