Can We Get a "Liberal" Label?

Hillary Clinton's "populist turn" - taking on insurers and going after drug companies.

Friday front-page story byJeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy, "Black Leader, A Clinton Ally, Tilts to Obama - Shift Comes as Her Bid Takes a Populist Turn," featured the latest blow to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign - civil rights era hero Rep. John Lewis's endorsement of Barack Obama for president. The story retained the labeling bias of the headline, as the Times referredtwiceto Hillary Clinton's new red-meat liberalism (attacking drug companies and credit card companies) as "populist." (The Times treated John Edwards' full-throated left-wing assaults the same way.)


The developments came on a day in which Mrs. Clinton set out anew to prove that the fight for the Democratic nomination was far from over. Campaigning in Ohio, she pursued a new strategy of biting attack lines against Mr. Obama, while adopting a newly populist tone as she courted blue-collar voters.


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Mrs. Clinton has been also criticizing Mr. Obama with populist language, saying she would "take on" insurers and credit card companies and "go after" drug companies. She portrayed Mr. Obama as untested on the battlefield against special interests.