Clinton ignores Trump’s attacks
Democrats aim for change of guard in Senate
WITH polls giving her the edge, Democratic White House nominee Hillary Clinton said on Saturday she planned to work hard to see her party made gains in Congress.
Speaking to reporters aboard her campaign plane, the former secretary of state said she no longer wished to respond to the attacks of her opponent Donald Trump in the run-up to the November 8 vote.
The Republican billionaire, making what his team had billed as a key policy speech laying out his plans for the first 100 days of his presidency, hit on some key issues, vowing to create 25-million jobs over a decade and to cut middle-class taxes. But he also angrily pledged to sue women who accused him of sexual misconduct – an issue that has dogged his candidacy in recent weeks and put Clinton, 68, in the driver’s seat.
Barnstorming through key swing states on Saturday, the candidates provided a study in contrast. Clinton was the picture of optimism, while Trump, 70, lobbed scathing attacks at his critics. “We’re talking about what’s at stake in the election, drawing contrast, but we’re giving people something to vote for, not just against,” said Clinton.
“As we’re travelling in these last 17 days, we’re going to be emphasising the importance of electing Democrats down the ballot,” she added.
On election day, Americans will choose a new president to succeed Barack Obama, as well as a third of the 100 senators and all 435 members of the House of Representatives, who serve two-year terms. Both houses of Congress are currently under Republican control, but the Democrats believe a changing of the guard in the Senate is within reach.
Remaining cautious on the eventual election result but noting “really encouraging signs” about turnout, Clinton said she was prepared to finish the campaign without worrying about her unorthodox opponent.
“I debated him for four and a half hours. I don’t even think about responding to him anymore,” she said in between two campaign stops in Pennsylvania.
“He can say whatever he wants, he can run his campaign however he wants,” Clinton added.
“I’m going to let the American people decide.”
Trump, who has dropped in the polls since a number of women came forward with allegations that he groped or forcibly kissed them, looked to reset his flailing campaign in Gettysburg. The historic battlefield town, also in Pennsylvania, is where Abraham Lincoln delivered his key Civil War speech to try and unite the nation.
“Change has to come from outside our broken system,” Trump told a room of several hundred supporters, hitting on many of his usual stump speech themes – immigration, trade, Congressional term limits and his call for Obamacare to be repealed.
“Hillary is not running against me, she’s running against change.” The Manhattan real estate mogul invoked the legacy of Lincoln, saying the nation should look to heal sharp divides. He even repeatedly used the words of the late president to champion government “of the people, by the people, for the people”.
But Trump also differed sharply from the 19th century leader celebrated for preserving the Union, unleashing fresh attacks on his critics, threatening to sue the “liars” who accused him of sexual assault and saying Clinton should have been barred from running for office.
Clinton leads in the national polls by an average of more than 5.3% points. — AFP