Vilsack stumps in Pa. for Clinton

SOMERSET, Pa. — Tom Vilsack would rather be making the rounds as Hillary Clinton’s running mate, but a month after he was bypassed for Tim Kaine, he said he is happy to be stumping for her as a top surrogate.

The U.S. agriculture secretary and former Iowa governor made a swing through his home state of Pennsylvania on Thursday and Friday to make the case for Ms. Clinton. In Somerset, he spoke to local Democratic activists.

“I’m here to equip you with some ideas and thoughts about her so you can talk to some of your friends and neighbors that might be persuadable,” Mr. Vilsack, a Pittsburgh native, told the audience in a steamy room in the local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall.

Shelley Glessner, the county Democratic chairwoman, is headed out to do that this weekend at the county fair.

One thing she’ll take there from Mr. Vilsack’s talk is his information about a Moody’s Analytics report showing Ms. Clinton’s economic plan would create 414,000 jobs in Pennsylvania while her opponent Donald Trump’s plan would cause 135,000 job losses. The report was written by economist Mark Zandi, a former economic adviser to Republican John McCain.

Mr. Vilsack said Ms. Clinton would create jobs by improving infrastructure, helping people transition into burgeoning industries, creating ways to move manufactured products more quickly and efficiently, and by promoting conservation efforts, such as using agricultural waste to make fuel.

That’s much different from Mr. Trump’s economic policy, he said. “His prescription is, ‘We’re going to deregulate major industries and we’re going to cut taxes for the wealthy,’ ” he said.

Mr. Vilsack said Mr. Trump’s reliance on gut instinct rather than sound advice is dangerous for policy, that his isolationist policies would jeopardize intelligence gathering, that his pro-torture stance would put American troops in harm’s way, and that his idea to privatize the veterans administration would open the doors to companies that would put profits ahead of services.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Vilsack criticized Mr. Trump’s failure to release his tax returns.

“He’s used every gimmick in the book to avoid paying taxes. And, second, he’s not as charitable as he would like you to think he is,” Mr.

Vilsack said. “Even Mike Pence is willing to show his tax returns. Everyone knows that you’ve got to do that. … How can you trust somebody who’s hiding that kind of information?”

Mr. Trump has said he will release his returns after a federal audit is complete, but he is under growing pressure from members of both parties to release them before Election Day.

Mr. Vilsack is a longtime friend of Ms. Clinton, whom he credits with helping him come from behind to win the 1999 Iowa gubernatorial race. He first met her through his brother-in-law, who worked with her in the 1970s on the Watergate investigation when both were young lawyers in Washington. Mr. Vilsack served alongside Ms. Clinton in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet and was on the short list to be her running mate.

“She had an incredible group of people to select from,” he said in a brief interview Friday. He said Mr. Kaine “is an incredibly good choice” who has leadership experience as a former governor.

Mr. Vilsack briefly addressed the scandal over Ms. Clinton’s use of a private server to send classified emails, and her failure to turn all of those messages over to the FBI.

“Secretary Clinton has been constantly saying if she had to do it all over again she would do it differently,” he said before quickly pivoting to his talking points. “At the end of the day, is [talking about the email scandal] going to create a single job? Is it going to make health care more affordable?” he asked.

“What’s relevant is: What are your positions on policies that matter to other people, not emails. What have you done in your lifetime to provide a better life for people? What are you proposing to do? And can you get it done?” he said. “Hillary Clinton has a career of working for families. … She has delivered.”

Mr. Vilsack also made stops Thursday and Friday in Centre County, Blair County, Johnstown and Washington, Pa.