Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
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“It’s not so much that I’m on the ticket, it’s because of the stark choice that’s posed to Americans in this election”, she said.
She presented a sharply more upbeat view of the country than her rival Trump did when he was formally nominated for president at last week’s Republican convention, and even turned one of Republican hero Ronald Reagan’s signature phrases against the real estate developer.
She did get in some good lines, though.
Bill Clinton will accompany his wife and Kaine on the campaign swing.
“Conventions are like the Olympics of politics”.
“America is great”, Clinton said in her speech, “because America is good”. “Yeah”, said Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. But she came across as a person who, unlike Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz, has faced decisions so frightening that they make powerful men quiver. “He spoke for 70-odd minutes – and I do mean odd”, she said. “Your cause is our cause”.
Samantha Herring, a Sanders delegate from Florida, appreciated the outreach.
But she said the nation must keep going until all 161 million women and girls in the country had the opportunities they deserve.
Next to her, Kira Willis was having a harder time offering unconditional praise for Clinton.
The Democratic National Convention got off to a rocky start, with a considerable amount of protesters taking to the streets and decrying a “rigged system” and a large number of Bernie Sanders supporters making a scene inside the Wells Fargo Center.
She countered Trump’s claim that he knows more about the terrorist group ISIS than USA generals do, saying, “No, Donald, you don’t”.
Clinton also vowed to fight income inequality, offered an agenda for providing debt-free college, promised to introduce sensible gun control measures, and pledged to fight climate change – because she “believes in science”. The emotional high point of her speech.
Earlier in the day, Trump refused to credit Clinton’s unique role in history. “But we are not afraid”, Clinton said.
Hillary Clinton has accepted the Democratic Party’s White House nomination, casting herself as a tireless champion of the people and rejecting Donald Trump’s dark picture of the US. I hope that my children will someday be as proud of me as I am of my mom.
The four-day convention has been a parade of party heavyweights – including President Barack Obama who stirringly hailing Clinton as his political heir – and tweeted after her Thursday speech that “she’s tested”. “We will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt”.
Lucia Baez, a Florida teacher, said on that note that Clinton hit the mark.
The convention hall in Philadelphia erupted into applause, and then Clinton doubled down. “We say: “‘We’ll fix it together”, said Clinton. The ascendancy of women in the Democratic Party and the country is now so obvious that it didn’t need more showcasing.
But Mrs Clinton sought to reach beyond the Democratic base, particularly to moderate Republicans unnerved by Mr Trump.
There were a few people holding up “Jill Stein” signs for the Green Party leader who has become a Plan B for some Sanders supporters.
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Clinton pledged that in her first 100 days she would “break through the gridlock in Washington” to deliver the biggest investment in jobs since World War II.
