HAMPTON, N.H. — Hillary Clinton’s approach to policy, so far, has been as risk-averse as her media strategy.

On the trail, she prefers the safe haven of the controlled roundtable setting, and for the most part avoids taking questions from the press. And when it comes to the issues she wants to talk about, Clinton sticks with those that are either so broadly popular as to present no threat to her brand or general-election prospects, or so small-bore as to carry little chance of backlash.


On Friday in New Hampshire, Clinton spoke with a passionate, progressive voice, pounding away at Republicans for “jumping on the bandwagon” to kill the Export-Import Bank, whose authorization in Congress is set to expire June 30. It was a safe call, to say the least: House Democrats support the bank. Moderate Democrats such as Sen. Chuck Schumer support the bank. A liberal like Sen. Elizabeth Warren? She’s pro-bank, too.

“It is wrong that Republicans in Congress are now trying to cut off this vital lifeline for American small businesses,” said Clinton, at the SmuttyNose Brewery in Hampton. Republicans, she said, would threaten the livelihoods of American workers rather than “stand up to the Tea Party and talk radio. It’s wrong, it’s embarrassing.”

Weighing in forcefully on an issue where her outlook matches that of the majority of her party was right in line with Clinton’s posture on many policy issues during this first phase of her campaign.

In her month and a half on the trail, Clinton has spoken in broad terms that give her the appearance of sometimes channeling Sen. Elizabeth Warren and championing the left — in the case of her appearance at SmuttyNose Brewery, sticking up for small businesses and bashing the GOP.

She sounds like she’s wrapping her arms around the progressive wing of her party while alienating few. She uses rhetoric that sounds Warren-esque (“The deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top”) while being vague about details of how precisely she would address the problem.

One Democratic strategist described Clinton’s positioning as a “head fake, making the general audience of the left think she’s one of them.”

The risk is that Clinton plays into the stereotype that she is a cautious and poll-driven politician more inclined to appease rather than lead. In an op-ed in the Portsmouth Herald Friday, Sen. Marco Rubio knocked Clinton for playing it safe and feeling no pressure to “offer new ideas.”

Clinton campaign advisers, meanwhile, argue that her positioning is not a strategy at all, but rather a sincere reflection of her record of fighting for the middle-class.

“The campaign is built on that record and consistent with the values Hillary Clinton has always championed,” spokesman Jesse Ferguson said. “It’s not about left or right, it’s about the values Hillary Clinton believes in and the fight she is continuing to wage.”

But the issues her advisers cite tend to be broadly accepted Democratic chestnuts. Clinton has said same-sex marriage should be a constitutional right; the minimum wage should be raised; the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision should be overturned to remove big money out of politics; community college should be free; police departments should be equipped with body cameras; what works in Obamacare should be extended and the high cost of prescription drugs should be lowered; paid family leave should be instituted; effective treatment should be provided for those who suffer from mental health and substance abuse problems.

Some of her stances, such as that on same-sex marriage, represent an evolution from where she has been in the past. But overall, Clinton has not supported progressive positions where she would have to stick her neck out from where the majority of her party is.

Moderate Democrats have taken note. “She’s being smart by checking the boxes on progressive issues that have wide appeal across the party, but keeping her general election powder dry by not going too far to the left,” said Jonathan Cowan, president of Third Way, a think tank started by former Clinton administration staffers.

Nonetheless, she’s succeeded in giving the impression of moving to the left.

The right-wing America Rising PAC has already accused Clinton of “staking out far-left positions that are outside of the mainstream of most Americans.” Even some of her biggest donors claim they see a shift.

“I think she is moving a little bit to the left and I think that’s fine,” hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, who recently hosted a fundraiser for Clinton, said in a television interview with Bloomberg. “People who are giving money to her understand that.”

But supporting universal pre-k and reforming student loans are hardly bold positions for Democrats in 2015 — instead, Democratic strategists argued, they act as liberal stalking horse issues that allow a candidate to appear boldly progressive while risking little.

A real sign that Clinton was tacking left would be a call for a single-payer healthcare system, or a promise to break the country’s large banks, or returning to a higher income-tax rate on everyone making more than $1 million a year. Clinton is unlikely to take those positions, and so far has not offered those kinds of specifics.

Indeed, as Vox.com’s Jonathan Allen pointed out, 91 percent of voters said they favored police officers wearing body cameras, according to a Pew poll from last year. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll from April showed that 58 percent of respondents favor legalizing same-sex marriage. And 57 percent of voters support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who live in this country, according to a CBS/New York Times poll from earlier this month.

On those issues that could be potentially costly to her — like weighing in on President Obama’s trade deal or the Keystone XL Pipeline— Clinton has notably refused to weigh in.

“Her strategy: alienate no one,” said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “Give the left of the Party no reason to criticize. Rhetoric works better than detail. Rhetoric you can change or edit. Details are difficult to erase.”

Details, such as how much she would like to raise the minimum wage, have yet to be shared. Even on immigration, where Clinton surprised many of the immigration activists who in the past had protested her speeches, some are still waiting eagerly for specifics. Clinton has yet to outline how, legally, she would be able to institute any policy that would go beyond where Obama went with an executive action to let millions more undocumented immigrants gain protections and work permits.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton eyes her chocolate peanut butter fudge ice cream Friday during a stop at Moo's Place in Derry, N.H. AP Photo

“Everything we hear now is words on the campaign trail, but the proof is in the pudding,” said Javier Valdes, co-executive director of Make the Road Action Fund. “We appreciate that she’s pushing the envelope. But the details will matter. We’re happy to hear that she’s taking that stance but we need to hear a little bit more.”

The hope, Democrats said, is that Clinton will soon add specifics to the outlines of policy she has only traced so far.

On Thursday, the campaign announced its big kick-off rally, where Clinton will address thousands of supporters with a big-picture speech about her candidacy and her vision for the future.