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May those who are observing Yom Kippur today have an easy fast. I recommend (for all, Jew or Gentile or none-of-the-above) yesterday’s very good “D’var Torah” diary explaining the concepts of economic justice embedded in the Hebrew tradition and especially in the passage from Isaiah 58 that is read at this morning’s services.
Hillary was in FL yesterday for a rally with Al Gore, at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus. They spoke about climate change, but also about the importance of every single vote.
Note: If you are in Florida, or have social media contacts who are: The registration deadline was extended by the Federal court by one day — due to Hurricane Matthew — so you can still register today, Wednesday, until 5 pm.
(And yes, the election is Nov. 8 — but vote early! — not Nov. 28 as Trump announced yesterday.)
It was (reportedly) Clinton’s first joint appearance with FL-Sen. candidate Patrick Murphy, only hours after Murphy’s opponent Marco Rubio reaffirmed his endorsement of Donald Trump.
Here’s part of the CliffNotes version of the rally, from the Front Page Liveblogs here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). Both Clinton and Gore focused on climate change, climate change, climate change, with some Trump (and Rubio)-bashing worked in along the way.
[Clinton] “Climate change is real. It’s urgent, and America can take the lead in the world” for dealing with it.
“Our next president will either step up” to address climate change, grow the clean energy economy, or “we will be dragged backwards and our whole future will be put at risk.” Points to Hurricane Matthew as an illustration as to why this matters. Calls for donations to the various organizations helping in the relief effort. . . .
Man, is there anything she can’t talk about intelligently? Clearly she’s got good speechwriters, but she is just as comfortable talking about this issue as she is something like healthcare, which she’s been working on for decades. She knows this stuff, she just knows it. Because she cares about it. It matters.
She’s giving a pretty great overview of everything responding to climate change entails—including shoring up our public health and hospital infrastructure to be able to respond.
Talks about the Paris agreement, the work she did as Sec. of State to help make it happen. Says Paris agreement is last best chance to save us all, which of course Trump wants to tear up. She’s now making a strong case for making climate change a key issue for our elections
Hitting Rubio hard for saying “I’m not a scientist” in response to a climate change question. She pounds him, says he should “ask a scientist” and Florida should elect Patrick Murphy. Bashing Rick Scott, too, for telling all the state agencies not to use the words “climate change” in state documents.
. . . .
here’s Al! Thanks Clinton, the college, the crowd…. “I’m here today with two very simple messages.” 1) The choice in this election is very clear when it comes to the most critical issue we face—climate crisis. The top national priority. 2) “Your vote really, really counts. A lot. You can consider me exhibit A of that truth. For those of you younger than 25, you might not remember what happened here in Florida in 2000.” “Take it from me, it was a very close election.”
Here’s the full video:
In conjunction with the Miami speeches, the League of Conservation Voters released a statement touting Clinton’s climate plans, and noting that LCV “is investing up to $10 million to help ensure that Hillary becomes our next president, including LCV’s GreenRoots program to mobilize our members as volunteers in 11 states.”
The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher for our planet, and as Hillary Clinton and Al Gore will highlight today, climate change is already impacting our day-to-day lives from stronger storms to extreme drought to rising sea levels. Climate change threatens our health, our economy, and our future, and low income and communities of color often bear the brunt of these threats. Hillary Clinton has made crystal clear that we must tackle the climate crisis head on, and she has an ambitious plan to do just that. As president she will defend and build on the Clean Power Plan, uphold the Paris agreement and work to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. We must build upon the historic progress we’ve made – not go back to the failed, dirty energy policies of the past. That’s why we’re doing all we can to elect climate champion Hillary Clinton to the White House.
I’ve seen a lot of comments indicating that many people have no idea how comprehensive Hillary’s plans are for combating climate change. Here’s the link to her website’s plans for “Taking on the threat of climate change and making America the world’s clean energy superpower.” Or try this summary:
Share these widely through social media.
Bill Clinton was also in Florida, for three separate events, amplifying the campaign’s all-out push for the key state. First, however, he tweeted out this, for the Clinton’s 41st wedding anniversary:
In Fort Myers, Clinton spoke to about 350 people at a voter registration event at Riverside Community Center. He held larger rallies in Belle Glade (Palm Beach area) and Safety Harbor (Tampa Bay). Here’s the Belle Glade speech, elaborating on why Hillary should be the next President:
Continuing the parade of surrogates in key states, President Obama spoke at a rally in Greensboro, NC attended by more than 9,000 people. Scan has the full video at HillaryHQ.com, with a report from the Greensboro News & Observer (from which these excerpts are taken). He began by thanking people for taking care of each other during the Hurricane Matthew flooding — and promising to return “for fun” once he’s no longer President. Then he got serious. Like Clinton, Obama emphasized that Trump is qualitatively different from other Republican nominees such as McCain and Romney:
“I never thought that if they were in the Oval Office, America would spin out of control,” he said. “I just thought they represented a different political party and a different philosophy. That is not the case with the current Republican nominee.”
On the other hand, he did not give the rest of the Republican Party a free pass, linking Trump to the GOP’s history of racism, insults, and obstruction:
Obama blamed the Republican Party for creating the political environment that allowed Trump to secure the GOP nomination.
“If you’ve been only about obstruction, if in order to score political points you tell your voter base crazy stuff – like I wasn’t born here, or that I’m a Muslim,” he said. “You repeat it over and over again, and so your only agenda is negative. ... Over time you produce a nominee who is all about obstruction and insults and makes up his own facts.”
Obama also criticized NC Sen. Richard Burr, and urged the crowd to support Democrat Deborah Ross.
How important is this election in changing perceptions about women’s roles and potential? It’s huge. Here’s one attender at the Obama rally:
Ashley Koonce is a 26-year-old former English teacher who said she’s the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, and it means a lot to her to see an African-American president. She said she’s excited about the possibility of the first female president.
“It means anything is possible,” she said. “When I was in kindergarten, they told us that we could become president, but we didn’t really believe them. But now, it can really happen.”
And three girls at the Clinton-Gore rally:
Finally, an inspirational piece, courtesy of Democratic campaign expert Dana Houle:
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Crossposted at HillaryHQ, an independent, progressive blog committed to electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States. Please considering supporting the HillaryHQ GoFundMe appeal to enable Scan to continue his independent journalism ad-free through the November election.