Clinton blasts Illinois governor’s agenda
CHICAGO — Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton on Wednesday delivered a hard-hitting critique of Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, accusing him of pushing an agenda that would return the state to “the robber barons of the 19th century.”
Clinton’s speech had been billed as a get-outthe-vote rally aimed at trying to galvanize African-American supporters ahead of the March 15 Illinois primary election.
But the event evolved into an extended and surprising criticism of Rauner, a former private equity investor — a potential way to reach out to backers of her tenacious political rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and his populist appeal of pushing against the wealthy, Wall Street and income inequality.
In the process, Clinton — who was born in Chicago— underscored just how critical the top of the presi- dential ticket could be in November to lower-ballot races here — particularly the Democratic supermajorities in the Illinois House and Senate that Republicans are challenging.
“When I look at what’s happening here in Illinois, (it’s a) Republican agenda to roll back the clock on everything that made the middle class strong in the 20th century. It’s pretty terrifying,” Clinton said.
“They want to undercut workers’ rights, undercut unions. You know, the American labor movement was essential to building the American middle class,” she said.
Clinton was joined on the ballroom stage by Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, the Naperville, Ill., woman whose death in a Waller County, Texas, jail after her arrest in a traffic stop altercation sparked national attention. Clinton decried gun violence and the National Rifle Association, and called for criminal justice reforms.