Louise Taylor, a 75-year-old former school teacher, voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, but her transposition into the Hillary Clinton camp has been effortless. “It will be unfortunate if Bernie does not support her whole hog,” she said, as she listened to Ms. Clinton on Wednesday.
As she consolidates the Democratic base and woos independents, Ms. Clinton appears increasingly comfortable in her own skin. Her broadsides at Republican opponent Donald Trump were witty and her pitch was modulated.
“He and I disagree on a lot of things, and one of them is simple math,” she said of Mr. Trump’s plans for the economy. “We need to write a new chapter in the American dream and it can’t be Chapter 11,” she said poking fun at Mr. Trump’s repeated use of the particular section of the U.S. bankruptcy code.
Hindus for HillaryMs. Clinton’s confidence stems from the enthusiasm among her listeners, which was subdued during the primary campaign. Owen Eslen, a 21-year-old student who says he respects Mr. Sanders, thinks Ms. Clinton is more “skilful and experienced”. Saket Singh and Parth Patel, Indian origin students who had flirted with both Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump, are now enthusiastic Clinton followers. Their ‘Hindus for Hillary’ forum has 40 members. “I cannot support Trump’s Muslim ban proposal and his opposition to gun regulation,” Mr. Patel said.
Ms. Clinton had unveiled a new slogan in the last week of May—‘stronger together’. Her speech now focuses on an “economy that works for all”, which was the cornerstone of the Sanders campaign.
Along with the ‘I’m with her’ slogan, Ms. Clinton strategists have tried ‘make America whole’, in response to Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and ‘fighting for us’ to push back the Sanders challenge during the primary campaign. Both catchphrases failed to create any wave. ‘Stronger together’ appears to have captured the essence of her pitch for the general election – countering Mr. Trump’s divisive agenda and appropriating Mr. Sanders’s welfare agenda.
“Wall Street’s obsession with quarterly results has ruined us. They cannot take taxpayer dollars with one hand and handout pink slips with the other,” she said rhetorically. Having been on the defensive on her own connections with big corporations, this may sound a tough pitch, but her supporters think otherwise. “She is genuine and I trust her,” said Ms. Taylor, who was with Mr. Sanders earlier.
Personal attacksMr. Trump has called her a “world-class liar” and “the most corruption person” and questioned her religion in the last two days. Ms. Clinton said Mr. Trump was incapable of responding to the substantive questions and was hence targeting her personally.
Talking of her politics, she said: “It’s rooted in the values that I learned from my family and my faith. We are all in this together, and we have a responsibility to lift each other up. As we Methodists like to say, ‘Do all the good you can to all the people you can in all the ways you can’, and that’s absolutely true for our children.” “All he can do is try to distract us. That’s even why he’s attacking my faith — sigh,” she said.
