Candidates seek to woo small business
Trump, Clinton lay out positions showcasing their concern
NEW YORK — Expect more talk about small-business issues like taxes and regulations as the post-convention presidential campaigns intensify, with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton trying to woo entrepreneurs and show they know what company owners need.
It’s a perennial issue the way education and jobs are — part of the rhetoric designed to appeal to voters’ emotions, says David Primo, a professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester.
“No one’s against small business,” Primo says.
The two candidates, as expected, have different takes on how to help small businesses. Delegates to the nominating conventions have many global and national issues on their minds, as well. And it’s difficult to tell if owners might be swayed, positively or negatively, by Trump’s business record or Clinton’s lack of private-enterprise experience.
More than on the nitty-gritty of campaign platforms, small-business owners — like many Americans — may be likely to vote based on how they feel about the two candidates.
A look at what the candidates and some delegates are saying:
What delegates want
Delegates to both conventions are interested in social issues, national security and other matters as much as small-business concerns.
“I’m going (to the convention) as an American. I care deeply about our country and I’m concerned about my children and grandchildren as they grow up,” says John Dinkel, a Republican convention alternate delegate and part-owner of Dinkel Implement Co., a farm and heavy equipment dealer.
But Dinkel, whose company is located in Norfolk, Neb., is also concerned about issues like regulation — a topic the candidate’s son, Donald Trump Jr., mentioned briefly in his speech Tuesday.
“Why should we work our butts off as small-business people when we’re going to have tons of regulations dumped on us? It wears on us after a while,” he says.
Half of owners surveyed in April for the National Small Business Association, an advocacy group, said they’re affiliated with the Republican Party, while 21 percent said they identify with the Democrats, 19 percent call themselves independents and the remainder were split among other parties or did not answer. Nearly half said they believe Republicans best represent their companies, but fewer than a quarter said they vote a straight party line.
Christine Chin Ryan, a delegate to the Democratic convention, wants to discuss issues in the Asian and Pacific Islander population, but also plans to attend meetings on small business and speak with party officials about entrepreneurial concerns.
“I want to make contact at the