After a handful events in two months, Hillary Clinton has filled her March with a mix of women’s events, nonprofit speeches and at least one paid appearance.
In January and February, Clinton headlined three events — only one of which was in the United States. But as Clinton moves closer to her expected 2016 presidential campaign announcement, the former secretary or state has at least seven events scheduled for the month of March.
Most of Clinton’s events are focused on one thing: women.
Clinton starts her month by headlining the 30th anniversary gala for Emily’s List — a pro-Clinton organization that focused on helping Democratic women win elected office. At the D.C. speech on March 3, Clinton is expected to give a nod to the group’s importance to Democrats and highlight the reason more women are needed in politics.
Emily’s List has been energized by Clinton’s campaign and has pledged to raise and spend more money than any other election cycle because of the prospect of a Clinton White House.
The following week, Clinton will headline two New York events tied to her 1995 speech to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing — a speech Clinton regularly references in pitches to women. In that speech Clinton said, “If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.”
On March 9, Clinton teams up with Chelsea, her daughter, and Melinda Gates to release a report through the Clinton Foundation that looks at “the gaps that still remain” in women’s participation in the economy and politics.
The following day — on March 10 — Clinton will headline the United Nation’s Women Empowerment Principles annual gathering in New York. Clinton will use the speech to outline the findings in the Clinton Foundation report and “reflect on progress made in implementing the agenda set in Beijing two decades ago,” the organizers said in a release about the event.
On March 16, Clinton will be inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame at an event in New York. Clinton is not Irish — her family is of English, Scottish, French, and Welsh descent — but she is being hooded because of “her dedicated work on Irish Peace Process.”
“Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the unsung heroes of the success of the Irish peace process,” said Irish America co-founder Niall O’Dowd.
In 1998, Clinton put together the Vital Voices Conference of women in Belfast, a body that pressed for a piece agreement. The former secretary of state cited her experiences in Ireland during a number of speeches in 2014.
O’Dowd is a longtime Clinton supporter, though,and was a member of her 2008 campaign finance team. Some Republicans have questioned how active Clinton was in the Northern Ireland peace process. The Washington Post Fact Checker wrote in 2008 that Clinton “seems to be overstating her significance as a catalyst in the Northern Ireland peace process, which was more symbolic than substantive,” but that she did play “a helpful role at the margins.”
On March 19, Clinton will headline her only confirmed paid speech of the month when she heads to Atlantic City for the American Camp Association, NY & NJ Conference.
Susie Lupert, the group’s executive director, tells CNN, “Yes, just like most nonprofits and conferences, she is being paid for her appearance.” But she would not confirm how much she is being paid. On average, Clinton makes between $200,000 and $300,000 per speech.
Near the end of the month, on March 23 in Washington, D.C., Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the award celebration for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting from Syracuse University.
Robin Toner, who graduated from Syracuse, was the first woman national political correspondent for the New York Times.
Syracuse Dean Lorraine Branham said Clinton is a “vivid example — like Robin — of a pioneering woman at the top of her profession.”
Clinton headlining an event honoring political journalists is somewhat unique because for decades she has held a dim view of the profession.
In a 1996, according to the diary of the late Clinton confidant Diane Blair, Clinton said the media are “complete hypocrites.” At an event in 2014, Clinton said “journalism has changed quite a bit in a way that is not good for the country and not good for journalism.”
“A lot of serious news reporting has become more entertainment driven and more opinion-driven as opposed to factual,” she said. “People book onto the shows, political figures, commentators who will be controversial who will be provocative because it’s a good show. You might not learn anything but you might be entertained and I think that’s just become an unfortunate pattern that I wish could be broken.”
Clinton’s presidential campaign has become a forgone conclusion and Democrats close to Clinton expect she will announce some official move towards the presidency in April.