CLEVELAND: With the crowd chanting, “O-H-I-O” and “I believe that she will win,” former President Bill Clinton returned to the campaign platform Saturday in Ohio to urge voters to get out the vote and vote early. Clinton was at Cleveland State University campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“Go out and win this thing for Hillary,” he told a diverse crowd of mostly young voters, telling them to make their vote count because Ohio is always a battleground state.
“First you have to vote. Ohio is always close and very often an election will go to those who want it the most,” he said. “Secondly, this is more than Democrats and Republicans. This is about defining what America will be about for the next 30 years and shape what is 21st century America. Thirdly, if there are people out there screaming and yelling at you, don’t treat them the way they treat you.”
Clinton said he knows what the slogan “Make America Great Again” means, because he’s a 70-year-old white Southerner and grew up in the base of Hillary’s opponent’s supporters. He said it means the economy of 50 years ago, with its social totem pole where opportunities were far more scarce for African-Americans, Latinos, fourth-generation elders, women in the workplace and people with disabilities.
“It just wasn’t that great,” Clinton said. “We know we are stronger together and will rise together.”
He talked about economics.
“People are allowed to be angry if they haven’t had a pay raise since the recession, but what you need is answers,” Clinton told the crowd of nearly 200 Saturday morning. “Answers are more important than anger. Hillary said people have a right to be angry, but empowerment is more important than rubbing salt in people’s wounds and telling them how bad things are.”
He said things are not as bad as Hillary’s opponent is saying.
“America is doing better, we just had our 79th month job growth for the first time in our history,” Clinton said. “We will look back in five years and give President Obama even higher marks after realizing how much he really did for America.”
He said America is wealthy, but prosperity is not shared, because the top tier, the wealthy, doesn’t pay their fair share.
“Her opponent said he wants change, but it’s more of the trickled-down economics, one more time, and put it on steroids,” Clinton said. “Giving bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations so they can make more gains.”
He talked about Hillary Clinton’s economic plan that is estimated to provide 10.3 million jobs and compared it to her opponent’s plan that will cut 3½ million jobs. He said if people didn’t believe him they could check with an economic adviser who verified it, a Republican who worked with John McCain, when he ran for president in 2008.
Clinton said his spouse wants to invest in infrastructure and put people to work, providing universal access to broadband for everyone and making sure everyone has clean water.
He said America loves competition; the World Series, football, the free market economy, they all work fine because everyone follows the same set of rules.
“Competition is better than endless conflict and us versus them and believe in us and we’ll get them,” he said.
He also said national security is a concern for all and how Hillary Clinton has the intelligence and the right temperament to protect America.
He appealed to the young people telling them about the tuition-free plan for students of families with income less than $125,000 at in-state four-year public colleges and universities, an opportunity to lower interest rates of college debt, a delayed debt program and loan forgiveness plan.
Liam O’Brien, a coordinator for Ohio Together at Cleveland State gave his own pep talk. He told the audience to take advantage of expanded early voting hours this weekend and to volunteer for the grassroots organization helping to elect Hillary Clinton and Democrats up and down the ticket.
“Get involved, there are only a few days left, knock on doors,” O’Brien said. “Ohio is a swing state, you can’t stand on the sidelines and see Trump get elected. Hillary can’t do it alone. Turn Ohio blue again.”
He appealed to the millennial crowd telling them to use social media to help get out the vote.
Clinton also had stops in Columbus and Cincinnati Saturday. Hillary Clinton will be at Kent State University Monday.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.