Clinton partners Sanders to woo younger voters
Hillary Clinton said America is in the midst of “one of the strangest elections” she had ever seen while touting her partnership on the campaign trail with Senator Bernie Sanders, her former foe in the primaries, hoping to inject some excitement among wary millennial voters.
Mr Sanders, who drew a passionate following among mostly younger voters when he was battling for the Democratic nomination in the spring, introduced Ms Clinton at a rally in New Hampshire, emphasising a plan for free college education that was at the heart of his campaign.
The event at the University of New Hampshire in Durham was the first time the one-time rivals had appeared on the same stage together since their “unity rally” in July days after Ms Clinton accepted the party’s nomination at its convention in Philadelphia.
“There is no group who have more at stake in this election than young Americans because so much of what will happen will affect your lives, your jobs, the country we are and the kind of country we want to build together,” Ms Clinton declared.
Ms Clinton will need the support of young people in New Hampshire. With national polls indicating an extremely tight race, both campaigns are increasingly seeing the state as a must-win on 8 November to help get them to the White House, even though it offers only four votes in the electoral college. Donald Trump will have his own event in the state on Thursday.
As well as securing the youth vote, Ms Clinton must make sure that all of those who supported Mr Sanders, a Senator from the neighbouring state of Vermont, are willing to put aside the disappointment of his being defeated in the primary contests and vote for her in November.
There is concern in the Clinton camp that bereft of Mr Sanders, some of his former followers will decide to vote for one of the two independent candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Jill Stein, and help give the White House to Mr Trump.
That meant underscoring that any rancour between them has been put to rest. “I’m proud of the primary campaign that Bernie and I ran,” she said, with Mr Sanders seated behind her gently nodding. “We ran a campaign about issues, not insults. And when it was over we began to work together... to come up with specific policies in education, in health.”
She was careful to tick off issues that may resonate most with younger votes, including education, climate change, women’s reproductive rights and the progress made on equal rights for the LGBT community.
It was as she sought to draw attention to Monday night’s debate against Mr Trump that Ms Clinton commented on the non-traditional nature and unpredictability of the race.
“Isn't this one of the strangest elections you’ve ever seen?” she asked. “I really sometimes don't know what to make of it, standing on that debate stage the other night I was especially thinking about that.” The comment drew quick applause, a reflection of a feeling among Democrats generally that she distinguished herself on Monday and that Mr Trump did not.
Among the oddities, she noted, was battling an opponent who does not believe in climate change. “I never thought that when I gave my acceptance speech at the Democratic National convention, that I would have to put in the following sentence: ‘I believe in science’.” she said.
In his introduction, Mr Sanders said the November election is “enormously important for the future of our country” and it's “imperative” that voters send Ms Clinton to the White House. He described Ms Clinton’s own plans to make college tuition free for middle class families as “revolutionary” – a carefully chosen word to echo his own campaign that he called a revolution.
A new online poll by Reuters/Ipsos released yesterday evening found that 56 per cent of American adults felt that Ms Clinton did a better job than Trump at their first debate, compared with 26 per cent who felt that Mr Trump did better.