Framed by the Manhattan skyline, Hillary Clinton will on Saturday lay out her vision for the United States in the first big rally of her bid to become president next year – and evoke her political heroine, Eleanor Roosevelt.  Clinton will address supporters in New York, the state that in 2000 elected her as its first female senator, in the middle of the East River on Roosevelt Island, with views of the United Nations, perhaps an intentional nod to her seminal speech, when she spoke on women’s rights in 1995 at a UN conference.  There, Clinton will deliver the speech at Four Freedoms Park, a memorial to President Franklin D Roosevelt, named after a speech he gave in 1941 to a nation months away from declaring war on Japan, in which he articulated four fundamental rights: freedom of speech and worship, and freedom from want and fear.  This will be the first serious test, in Clinton’s second tilt at becoming the first female US president, of how well she can excite supporters amid criticism that her attempt to secure the Democratic nomination is a coronation without serious challenge.  The demographics of the crowd will also be closely scrutinised to see if she can mobilise the same spectrum of support – from women, black and Hispanic voters – that won the White House for Barack Obama in 2008.  During the speech, Clinton is expected to signal that she can be a champion for the middle classes, set out an economic vision, and evoke the Roosevelts’ progressive beliefs as she pitches herself as the person to lead the country forward.  She has a strong connection with Mrs Roosevelt, the longest-serving first lady in US history who stepped out of the her husband’s looming shadow to secure achievements in education, helping women and the poor.  In 1993, theadministration of Bill Clinton had just suffered its first major legislative defeat in an attempt to create a national healthcare system - a major blow toHillary Clinton, whose leading role in the project was unprecedented for a presidential spouse.  Confused and uncertain of her role, some of her advisers suggested trying to imagine conversations with Mrs Roosevelt, her political heroine, who died in 1962. “People said it was a seance. It was not a seance,” said Mary Catherine Bateson, a writer and cultural anthropologist, recalling the imaginary conversation. “It was a technique to encourage Hillary to express herself. I think it was really useful.”  According to journalist Bob Woodward in his 1996 book The Choice, which details Bill Clinton’s re-election bid, Hillary Clinton was encouraged by advisers Bateson and Jean Houston to hold imaginary conversations with her idol as a means of therapeutic relief. “God,” Woodward quoted Houston as saying at the time, “this is really a serious Eleanor Roosevelt aficionado.”  Clinton wrote about these motivational chats with Roosevelt in her nationally syndicated column, Talking It Over. She said the two would discuss the role of women in politics, and how to define herself as first lady in the face of criticism. “She usually responds by telling me to buck up, or at least to grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros,” Clinton noted.  This is advice Clinton has almost certainly taken to heart as she defends herself against attacks over her family foundation’s acceptance of foreign donations and her use of private email during her tenure as secretary of state.  Related: Hillary Clinton: GOP candidates 'afraid of democracy' with voting rights stances  So far, Clinton has defined four planks of her campaign platform, including building an “economy of tomorrow”, strengthening families and communities, campaign finance reform and protecting the country from threats “that we see and the ones that are on the horizon”.  So far three Democrats have stood up to challenge her, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, socialist senator Bernie Sanders, and former Republican senator and independent governor Lincoln Chafee.  The Republican field is much wider, and Jeb Bush, the son and brother of two former presidents, is expected to become the frontrunner when he declares his candidacy on Monday. His fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, who would be the first Hispanic president, is another strong contender.  “The country doesn’t know Hillary,” said Allida Black, an Eleanor Roosevelt historian and co-founder of the Ready for Hillary Super Pac. “They think they do, but they don’t.”Black said the challenge for Clinton on Saturday would be to clearly articulate her vision for America. Channeling Eleanor Roosevelt, a visionary in her time and a fierce advocate for women, youth, the working class and the disenfranchised, was one way Clinton can make the case that she is the “champion of everyday Americans”, she said.  Clinton will be joined at Saturday’s rally by her husband and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, making their first appearances on the campaign trail since she declared her run for the presidency in April. She will also not be the first Clinton to speak at Four Freedoms park, where visitors can view a 1,050lb bronze bust of Franklin Roosevelt. Bill Clinton spoke at the park’s dedication ceremony on 17 October 2012.  Clinton’s interpretation of Roosevelt’s legacy is key to understanding how she will fight for everyday Americans, said Harvey Kaye, a historian and author of The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great.“Does she read the Roosevelt tradition as a series of policies and programs such as the New Deal, or does she see it in a larger sense of a man who mobilized Americans to confront the challenges of the day and empower them and encourage them to carry on the struggle against big business and others who oppose progressivism?” he said.  Kaye believes the nation is at a crossroads, and the American people are waiting for a “new New Deal”.  According to a New York Times poll released on 3 June, 66% of adults said they felt that the money and wealth in the US should be more evenly distributed, and 67% said that they believed the gap between the rich and the poor was getting larger in the US. The poll also found that 57% of adults believed the government should do more to reduce income inequality, compared with 39% who believed the government should not.“A real Roosevelt Democrat wouldn’t just say ‘I want to fight for you’,’” Kaye said. “A Roosevelt Democrat would say, ‘Not only will I fight for you, I want you to fight for you.’ If she’s starting to say that, and she says that on Saturday, then at least she’s getting closer to the idea.”  Clinton will also draw inspiration from her late mother, Dorothy Rodham, according to aides familiar with the speech who are not authorized to speak publicly about it.  In the past she has been protective of her but on Saturday she is expected to discuss her mother’s upbringing – which was marked by her parents’ abandonment – to underscore her belief that every child needs a champion and why now, more than ever, is the right time to wage this battle.  “No one had a bigger influence on my life or did more to shape the person I became,” Clinton wrote of her mother in her most recent book, Hard Choices.  Clinton has credited her mother for nurturing a fighter’s mentality, which has no doubt motivated her daughter as she makes a run for the White House, and tries to cast off the shadow of the failed 2008 campaign.  She is also expected to criticize Republicans for being out of touch with the needs of a diverse electorate, in an effort to paint herself before a stadium-size crowd of adoring fans as the clear choice. Over the course of her campaign, Clinton will try to recreate the enthusiasm that Obama’s campaign generated in 2008 as she aims to capture the votes of women, black people and Hispanics.
Democratic presidential frontrunner will hope to rally Obama’s 2008 coalition of black, Hispanic and women voters in set-piece speech with Manhattan backdrop