On the heels of the Democratic National Convention and with just over 100 days until the general election, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine kicked off a campaign swing Friday that will take them through economically struggling regions of Pennsylvania and OH, which GOP rival Donald Trump has put at the top of his target list of swing states. Which seems a tad harsh, coming from a man whose own acceptance speech promised that “the crime and violence that afflicts our nation” would “come to an end” the day he steps into the Oval Office. Asked whether the turmoil will hurt the party this fall, she said, “Time will tell”.
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During her speech, Clinton said the country was at “a moment of reckoning”, presenting herself as the responsible choice for president instead of Trump. Rather, Ms. Clinton is showing every sign of doubling down on the other attributes her surrogates ascribed to her in Philadelphia: toughness, relentlessness and resolve.
Democrats contrasted their optimistic, policy-laden message with the darker vision and less specific platform that marked Trump’s turn during the Republican convention a week earlier. Clinton, who aides say spent weeks working on her address, saw the speech as a major opportunity to answer what her husband called the “cartoon alternative”.
Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kansas, tweeted that Clinton believes that the Ayatollah in Iran is an ally of the U.S. She has never said or indicated such a thing.
She promises to focus on parts of the country that have been “left out and left behind” – constituencies where declining living standards, fears about safety, drug use and lost jobs have fuelled support for Trump.
And Clinton offered an open hand to backers of Vermont Sen. Trump tweeted. “Crooked Hillary said that I ‘couldn’t handle the rough and tumble of a political campaign.’ Really, I just beat 16 people and am beating her!” Bernie Sanders, saying, “I’ve heard you”.
“You’ve put economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong”, she said, addressing both Sanders and the wider audience of liberal Democrats and progressives who remain highly skeptical of the former secretary of state and whether they should support her.
In a first for a Democratic convention, a number of Republican economic and foreign policy leaders hammered home the point. He joked, “I know I have 72 hours where I can do no wrong”. “Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan”, said Doug Elmets, a Reagan administration aide, echoing a famous debate quip by vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
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Hillary’s wars in the Middle East have unleashed destruction, terrorism and ISIS across the world.
