Hillary Clinton, ‘out of the woods,’ speaks up during S.F. visit

In the latest sign that she is ready to come “out of the woods” politically, Hillary Clinton offered a mantra Tuesday in San Francisco to those opposing the Trump administration: “Resist. Persist. Insist. Enlist.”

Clinton appeared on stage for about an hour Tuesday at the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference at Moscone Center West, with most of her remarks focusing on the struggles women face in the workplace.

But sprinkled in with a few self-deprecating quips — “There’s no place I’d rather be than here with you ... other than the White House” — Clinton fired off some of her most pointed political remarks since losing the election to Donald Trump in November.

Anyone who doubted the staying power of the Women’s Marches got their answer “when Congress and the administration tried to jam through a bill that would have kicked 24 million people off their health insurance,” Clinton said. “They were met with a wave of resistance.

“When this disastrous bill failed, it was a victory for all Americans,” she said as the audience applauded loudly.

But, Clinton cautioned, “the other side never quits. Soon or later they’ll try again, and we will need to fight back twice as hard.”

And in an allusion to the widely circulated photos of her walking in the woods near her Chappaqua, N.Y., home just days after her loss, Clinton shared the “little mantra I’ve been repeating to myself recently,” one that she admitted is “a little silly, the kind of thing that pops into your head when you take a lot of long walks in the woods.”

Resist actions that go against our values as Americans, she said. Insist that we can all do better. Persist, as Clinton said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., did when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tried to prevent her from quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor during the debate over Jeff Sessions’ appointment as attorney general.

Then bring that “passion we’ve seen in the last few weeks,” to the voting booth in 2018. “Show up and vote, for goodness sakes.” And enlist in the resistance effort — “get in the arena,” she said, by running for office or starting a business that is supportive of your employees.

What Clinton found “so maddening” during was the recent health care debate was that Republicans were not showing empathy to the people they represented.

“Really? Take away maternity care?” Clinton said. “Really? Take away mental health and substance abuse care? Who do these people talk to? Do they not have any idea about the suffering that goes on?”

Hillary Clinton during the closing keynote for the 28th annual Professional BusinessWomen of California at the Moscone West on Tuesday, March 28, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Hillary Clinton during the closing keynote for the 28th annual Professional BusinessWomen of California at the Moscone West on Tuesday, March 28, 2017, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Hillary Clinton, ‘out of the woods,’ speaks up during S.F. visit 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Clinton never mentioned President Trump by name but alluded to a line in his inaugural address when she said, “Where some see a dark vision of carnage, I see a light shining on creativity” in this country.

Much of the speech, though, was sister-to-sister commiserating with the audience of the professional women, who gave her a standing ovation.

“I bet just about everyone in this room has the experience of saying something in a meeting that gets ignored,” Clinton said. “Ten, 20 minutes later, a man says the same thing and everybody thinks, ‘It’s genius!’”

On Friday, Clinton is scheduled to appear before another friendly audience when she delivers a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., during a ceremony for an award named in Clinton’s honor by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. The institute’s executive director is her longtime aide Melanne Verveer.

Other than saying she was coming out of the woods and would continue to speak out, Clinton offered few specifics about her plans. But she offered a little hint about her future when she noted that as a candidate, she produced a plan to make workplaces more family-friendly.

“I don’t expect you to remember that. There was a recent study showing that none of my plans were publicized or talked about,” she said. “So that gives me something (to talk about in) speeches for at least a decade.”

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli