USA-ELECTION/CLINTON-UPDATE Clinton stakes claim for working-class votes at presidential rally

Record ID: 151091

  • Title: USA-ELECTION/CLINTON-UPDATE Clinton stakes claim for working-class votes at presidential rally
  • Date: 13th June 2015
  • Summary: FLAGS CLINTONS
  • Embargoed: 28th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA23CFRUO4ZYLZ0MGIMI9OBYHIQ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton promised on Saturday (June 13) to fight for a fairer society for ordinary Americans, staking out a place on the left to cut off any budding challenge for the Democratic nomination.
    In the first major rally of her campaign for the November 2016 presidential election, Clinton pressed many of the buttons that energize liberal Democrats.
    Speaking on New York's Roosevelt Island, within close view of Manhattan's skyscrapers, Clinton promised to make the economy work for the middle class.
    "Democracy can't be just for billionaires and corporations, prosperity and democracy are part of your your basic bargain too. America can't succeed unless you succeed, that is why I am running for president of the United States," Clinton said.
    The former secretary of state praised working families for leading America's economic recovery after the financial crisis of 2008.
    "You brought our country back. Now it's time - your time to secure the gains and move ahead," she told a crowd of several thousand supporters.
    The clear front-runner to win the Democratic nomination, Clinton nevertheless has some competition from the left, especially from liberal Bernie Sanders.
    Clinton took aim at Republicans, criticizing their lack of diversity. "Now there may be some new voices in the presidential Republican choir but they are all singing the same old song. A song called Yesterday," she said.
    She also attacked their economic policies.
    "They pledge to wipe out tough rules on Wall Street rather than rein in the banks that are still too risky, courting future failures, in a case that can only be considered mass amnesia."
    She highlighted her support for gay marriage, women's rights, income equality, clean energy and regulating Wall Street.
    "They want to take away health insurance from more than 16 million Americans without any credible alternative. They shame and blame women, rather than respect our right to make our own reproductive health decisions. They want to put immigrants who work hard and pay taxes at risk of deportation, and they turn their backs on gay people who love each other," Clinton said.
    Clinton, in a departure from her previous campaign in which she downplayed the impact being a woman might have on her presidency --- poked fun at the issue to whoops of approval.
    "All our presidents come into office looking so vigorous and then we watch their hair grow grayer and grayer. Well I may not be the youngest candidate in this race, but I will be the youngest woman president in the history of the United States and the first grandmother as well. And one additional advantage: you won't see my hair turn white in the White House, I've been coloring it for years," she said.
    The outdoor rally marked a change in gear for Clinton, who launched her election campaign in low-key fashion in April and has so far held small events with selected participants.
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