Clinton pushes cheaper higher education
Dalton LaFerney | News Editor
She made supporters wait more than an hour, but Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped in Dallas on Tuesday to rally voters against Republicans on immigration, wage inequality and higher education.
The occasion was rich with symbolism as the rally took place at Mountain Valley Community College, one of the thousands of community colleges Clinton wants to make more affordable to all people seeking an education in the United States.
A local middle school mariachi band warmed up the crowd — another plot piece for Clinton, who, unlike Donald Trump in his Dallas rally in September, looked to soothe the Latino vote Tuesday as she strives for the nomination and ultimately the general election in November 2016.
“I have been in their homes, sitting at the kitchen tables, sharing their meals and talking about their dreams for their children,” Clinton said, her voice rising with the crowd. “I will stand against any effort to break up families and to deport dreamers,” she said, referring to supporters of the DREAM Act, failed legislation that was designed to allow some young immigrants to stay in the U.S.
It was a routine stump speech followers have become accustomed to hearing, but the gymnasium full of about 1,500 supporters were all ears for her sharp rhetoric on her Republican opponents, calling the race for the GOP nomination “a reality show.”
Clinton supporters were forced to wait for an hour past the planned start time for her speech. Kristen Watson | DRC
A high point in her rally came early on in her speech when she outlined her position on business compensation, saying her goal as president is to ensure an American future where all citizens can enjoy the benefits of a successful economy, not only CEOs and shareholders.
“We will end the outrage of women getting paid less than men,” Clinton said. “Women work hard — they deserve to be paid equally. Economic growth has to be fair, it has to be strong and it has to be long-term.”
Clinton landed in the middle of an already torrid immigration debate. A new path toward a foreign policy debate emerged Friday when 129 people were killed in terrorist attacks in Paris. Republican presidential candidates hastily marched down that path.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in response to Obama’s call to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S., suggested only Syrians who are Christians should be granted access to the country.
Clinton did not spend much time Tuesday speaking about the terrorist attacks in the French capital. The Democratic front-runner offered her condolences and shunned Cruz, Bush and other conservatives hoping to lock the door on the Syrians.
“We can’t act as though we are shutting the doors on people in need without undermining our ideals,” she said to resounding approval from the crowd.
Because of Clinton’s role in the Obama administration as secretary of state, opponents have tied her to Obama’s Islamic State military strategy, which Republicans have bludgeoned, because, as Cruz put it, the president “does not wish to defend this country.”
A member of the crowd holds up a “Hillary to the House” sign as they wait for Hillary to take the stage at Mountain View College in Dallas. Kristen Watson | DRC
Clinton, looking to deflect foreign policy criticism, has taken up the hazardous task of distancing herself from the president without upsetting Democratic primary voters, who largely approve of Obama’s performance.
Long before the Paris attacks, however, conservatives have brewed about porous U.S. borders. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott led a 23-state lawsuit against Obama’s executive order to grant amnesty to people living in the U.S. illegally. The president is expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appellate court in October ruled it was unconstitutional.
Before hitting the stage, the Services Employees International Union announced its support of Clinton, according to news reports.
The SEIU is one of the most prominent labor unions, adding to Clinton’s already abundant union support. The endorsement helped clear a cloud of uncertainty hovering over her presidential campaign as Democrats and Republicans alike have questioned Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
“We want to win in a way that unifies us,” Clinton said, asking for donations. “If we stand together, we will make change, change that will continue to allow us as a nation to move toward that more perfect union.”
Featured Image: Secretary Hillary Clinton speaks to a large crowd at Mountain View College in Dallas on Nov. 17. The speech hit on some of her campaign promises like free community college, regulating pharmaceutical companies and building on the Affordable Care Act. Kristen Watson | DRC
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