Clinton seeks support in El Centro
Dozens of Imperial Valley residents endured the triple-digit heat on Thursday afternoon as they anxiously waited for the opportunity to see the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
She is the first presidential candidate to visit the Imperial Valley since Jimmy Carter came.
Among the locals who were eager to see her in person was Jerika Finnell, a teacher who said it was a rare opportunity to see a presidential candidate in the Valley.
Finnell said because she is a teacher she was hoping to hear Clinton talk about education. She also wanted to know more about her immigration reform plan and women’s rights, which she believes is one of the biggest issues in the country.
“A lot of states are trying to reverse the progress that we’ve made and that scares me,” she said.
Clinton arrived at the Barcelona Events Center in El Centro shortly after 3:45 p.m. in company of Congressman Juan Vargas, who introduced her to the public and endorsed her to become the next president of the United States.
“I think it’s been a little too long since somebody running for president came here,” Clinton said.
“I came for a couple of reasons. I wanted to come to El Centro, a community of hardworking people, a community based on agriculture that does so much for the rest of our country, a community that is one of the neighbors to our friends to the south in Mexico.”
The candidate talked briefly about what she intends to do is to create jobs, and she applauded California for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Clinton also emphasized the need for women to get equal pay for equal work. She also touched on the need to help educators throughout the country and making college more affordable.
Another local at the rally, Pete Mendez, who is a business owner, said that he feels the visit is a positive for the community and he was hoping to hear the candidate talk about improving the economy and health care.
“It’s nice that someone pays attention to the Valley,” Mendez said. “Imperial County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the whole country, if she can help in any way that’d be good.”
Clinton also made reference to how during the administration of former President Bill Clinton most Americans saw an increase in their incomes and said that she intended to work to make the same thing happen if she is elected to be the next president.
“We knew how to raise incomes and create opportunity — that’s what I want to get back to doing,” Clinton said. “We’re going to have more jobs in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and some of what I see here in Imperial County: more jobs in clean, renewable energy.”
A Clinton supporter, Aida Lopez said that she is sure she will become the first female president of the country and pointed out that during her husband’s tenure she was the one running the show.
“She will be our next president and yes I’m very excited and that is why I’m here,” Lopez said. “She (ran) the country once and she’ll do it again.”
One of the issues that Clinton talk about the most was immigration, she told a story to the public of when she was baby-sitting children of immigrants in Chicago and how she was moved about how the kids would run to the arms of their parents the moment they got back home.
“I want you to know that when I talk about immigration and the need to reform it and give people a path to citizenship my mind goes back to those days,” she said. “I’m going to do everything that I possibly can to make sure that we get it right this time.”
Her visit caught many by surprise here in the Valley. Clinton’s campaign announced on Wednesday evening that she was going to make the impromptu visit to El Centro.
During her speech Clinton made a few comments regarding her dislike of the rhetoric being used by the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
She said that the three biggest challenges for the next president are to provide results for the people, have the ability to be the commander in chief and ability to unite the nation.
A group of locals that scattered in near the center expressed their dislike for Clinton. El Centro resident Danny Hernandez, who is a Trump supporter, said that he doesn’t think Clinton has what it takes to be the next president.
“I don’t support Hillary because we had too many Clintons in the past,” he said. “Bill Clinton has done what he’s done and she’ll repeat the same, we need change, someone that will have the strength to tell the public the truth.”