*** SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON ***
Donate Today!
As a matter of policy, I’m not going to give any more space to what the Republicans said, didn’t say, did, didn’t do, lied about, blamed Hillary for, etc. I’m sure there will be plenty of other diaries that go into all that. For this diary, instead of talking about how bad Trump is (and the other RNC speakers) — we know that, don’t we? — I’d like to keep the focus on what Hillary is doing and saying.
Often, during the opposing party’s Convention, the presumptive (or actual) nominee lays low, meeting with advisers, vetting possible running mates, writing his or her own speech for the next week, and taking some R&R time. (How’s that new grandson doing? Will we see him next week, or is he still too little to be out in public?) But Clinton decided to keep campaigning, even if she doesn’t get much media attention for her appearances.
Following up on her Monday speech to the American Federation of Teachers meeting, on Tuesday Clinton went to Las Vegas to the International Convention of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
The union endorsed her in October 2015. (I’m not sure what an “International Convention” of a union of American public employees means; if we have any AFSCME members out there, maybe you can explain in the comments.) Per the AFSCME website’s reporting:
Sec. Clinton addressed the 6,000 delegates and guests to AFSCME’s convention on topics including her plans to rebuild an economy that works for all Americans, not just those at the top. She pointed out Donald Trump’s dangerous record of exploiting workers, and highlighted the clear choice facing working families in this election. Sec. Clinton stands with AFSCME members on the issues that affect their everyday lives and their communities, such as improving the incomes of ordinary Americans, along with equal pay, retirement security and the right to organize together in strong unions.
“I will be by your side in this fight every step of the way. If I have the honor of serving you as President, working people will always have a seat at the table and a champion in the White House,” said Sec. Clinton. “I believe that when unions are strong, America is strong.”
“And we all need to do more to support all our public servants,” added Clinton. “These are jobs that provide dignity and a sense of purpose. Jobs that are about giving back and making our communities stronger.”
She did comment briefly on the RNC, saying that the “surreal” Monday night program reminded her of The Wizard of Oz, with “lots of sound and fury, even a fog machine, but when you pulled back the curtain it was just Donald Trump with nothing to offer to the American people!"
While in Las Vegas Clinton spoke at a voter registration event, encouraging the assembled volunteers to keep up their efforts to register as many eligible voters as possible:
Voter registration is getting a lot of attention from the campaign right now, well ahead of the fall GOTV efforts. (I don’t understand Pokemon Go, but reportedly the campaign is using it to find out where the game guides people to congregate, and setting up voter registration tables there.) This is from Florida:
During Monday night’s Republican Convention, a campaign staffer tweeted out,
As Tuesday’s roll call began, her team tweeted again,
Yesterday three top campaign staff did a live Facebook chat about the voter registration program, which you can access here.
Yesterday Clinton picked up another union endorsement, this time from the Nevada-based Culinary Workers Union:
This morning, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce endorsed Clinton, the first time that body (which has a significant number of Republican members) has ever endorsed a Presidential candidate. According to Reuters,
The Trump campaign “has gone from frankly something that was entertaining, comical, and has devolved into something that is frankly scary,” said Javier Palomarez, the chamber president and chief executive officer.
He said the group weighed in because of Trump’s rhetoric, which has angered many in the U.S. minority community. Trump has been accused of bigotry for his hard line on immigration, and many of his comments have been blasted as racist ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.
“It wasn’t a step that was taken easily,” Palomarez said, noting that many of the chamber’s board and members are “staunch Republicans.”
* * * *
Palomarez said the Clinton campaign earned their group’s endorsement by doing significant outreach to Latinos, including asking to speak with chamber members in different parts of the country.
“I think she understands the challenges of American small businesses,” he said.
* * * *
The chamber is an organization of Hispanic business leaders representing the interests of Hispanic-owned businesses nationwide. It had endorsed Clinton and Republican John Kasich in their respective primaries, the group's first-ever such endorsements.
I’ve seen a number of comments saying “Why doesn’t the campaign do something with all those people who got stiffed?” Hillary did that in her Atlantic City speech — and here’s the next installment, a powerful new Briefing video about a New Jersey small business owner who didn’t get paid in full:
Would you like to talk back to Trump? (Wouldn’t we all?) Watch this new ad from the Clinton campaign, with broad diversity (including a Bernie t-shirt, and a Spanish-speaker), which tells you how to add your name:
Finally, for those of you who are nervous about November, here’s what Hillary tweeted (again) last night:
Let’s do this, indeed.
*** SUPPORT HILLARY CLINTON ***
Donate Today!
Crossposted at HillaryHQ, an independent, progressive blog committed to the electing Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States. Consider a donation to author Scan’s GoFundMe account to support his independent journalism during this campaign, and help pay his expenses to the DNC in Philly next week.