Former president at Whitehaven High
Hundreds hear spousal speech touting Hillary Clinton
Hundreds packed into the Whitehaven High School gymnasium Thursday to hear former President Bill Clinton stump for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Bill Clinton, a giant state flag behind him, spoke largely on issues that plague Memphis, including high unemployment, violent crime and poverty, and said Hillary would help America “grow together.”
“Without an economy that works for everybody, we can’t be one America, and we can’t go forward together,” Clinton said.
Clinton also hit on several campaign issues, including the need to improve the economy, create more jobs, lower health care co-payments and provide free college educations for people with lower incomes. He also paid homage to the anger at the status quo that has boosted the campaigns of his wife’s Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The former president said science has shown that people are genetically 99.5 percent the same, but some people are “fixated” on the 0.5 percent that makes people different.
“Why is everyone so mad and full of anxiety? Because we got jobs back but not income, but not enough jobs,” he said. “So what we need now is to say: ‘How can we act like we’re all 99.5 percent the same?’ ”
Clinton came to Memphis as his wife’s campaign ramps up its effort to reach voters in the state after the start of early voting Wednesday and before the March 1 “Super Tuesday” primary election.
Clinton paid homage to Memphis’ good qualities as well, singling out St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for not requiring patients to pay, and said that’s how health care should work.
“We need health care plans to induce doctors to do what they do at St. Jude, where nobody pays,” he said.
But in talking about the struggles of middle- and lower-class America, Clinton was met with silence when he said President Barack Obama wasn’t a “change-maker” like Hillary Clinton.
“Yeah, it’s rigged,” he said, speaking of the financial system, “because
you don’t have a president who’s a change-maker, who has a Congress who will work with him. But the president has done a better job than he has gotten credit for.”
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen introduced Clinton, and said Hillary would continue her husband’s legacy of creating economic prosperity for all.
“She’s helping out the women, she’s helping out the children, she’s ready to go into the White House on day one,” said state Rep. Raumesh Akbari, who with Rep. Joe Towns warmed up the standingroom-only crowd before Clinton’s arrival.
The crowd of more than 650 was diverse in age, race, gender and where they lived in the area, as well as the reasons why they were there.
Marietta Bridgeforth, wrapped in a black coat and wearing a knit cap to ward off the cold, sat on the steps outside the event while her son held her place in line.
Bridgeforth, a Whitehaven resident, said she hadn’t decided whether Hilla r y Clinton would get her vote. She said she wanted to hear more about what Clinton would do to make college education more affordable.
But is Clinton the best one to tackle that problem? “I really don’t know. I just don’t know,” she said.
Several students were also in attendance.
Ad ren a Nel s on , a 17-year-old junior, said the event was exciting for her as she narrows down her choices of whom to vote for when she turns 18.
“It’s neat for a school like Whitehaven,” she said.
Cl i nton’s tea m a nnounced the rally this week, and state Republicans were quick to seize on the late notice as a sign that Clinton’s campaign was scrambling in response to opponent Bernie Sanders’ recent surge.