希拉里的参选议程

Despite some missteps--Hillary Clinton's campaign for the White House is finally taking shape. But as she decides where to focus her economic agenda, her advisors may already have -- months ago.

In her campaign video, released last week, announcing her candidacy, Hillary Clinton vowed to work hard for the country's average earner.

"Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times. But the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top. Every day Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion," she said.

It's a message Clinton has taken straight to conservative and rural Middle America, to the state of Iowa, her first campaign stop this week.

Analysts say, over the course of her campaign, voters can expect to see Clinton championing populist causes 

An increase in minimum wage, a guarantee of government-support for those trying to pay for college, and a boost in spending on infrastructure projects. 

Clinton has suggested she intends to increase tax on America's biggest earners, doing away with exemptions and deductions that disproportionally favor them. That includes big Clinton donors.

Those positions make her look more like Barack Obama in 2008 than Hillary Clinton in 2008. 

So what might Clinton be thinking now

Several of her recent advisors were part of a commission which, in January, put out this report, calling for "Inclusive Prosperity." It notes that:

"Left to their own devices, unfettered markets and trickle-down economics will lead to increasing levels of inequality, stagnating wages, and a hollowing out of decent, middle-income jobs. This outcome is morally wrong."

It may be months before Clinton pulls out her full economic agenda for her campaign. But this report - from the think-tank set-up by her campaign manager - is perhaps the best early indicator of what that plan might look like: well-regulated markets, and an expanded safety net for citizens. But what about internationally?

As First Lady, Clinton reportedly played a hesitant role in NAFTA, a trade deal between the US and its neighbors Mexico and Canada. And as a senator in 2005, she voted against a similar deal with Central American countries.

But then, as Secretary of State, Clinton lobbied intensely for American companies doing business abroad, including in Beijing supporting Most Favorable Nation status for China. And as Obama's top diplomat in recent years, she was Washington's chief advocate for the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnerships considered one of the world's largest trade deals.

Clinton may find a balancing act difficult. Opening-up international markets while protecting America's workers from foreign competition. With the elections still more than a year and a half away, she has plenty of time to convince the public she can do both.