Clinton, Kaine begin tour of Pa., Ohio
Nominee compares Trump to a king
PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton kicked off her general election campaign Friday in Philadelphia by comparing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to a king, while she argued the historic nature of her candidacy showed the goodness and potential of America.
“Nobody who looked like me was thought to be possible to run for president” when the country was founded 240 years ago, Ms. Clinton told a few thousand supporters at Temple University, a day after she became the first woman to accept the presidential nomination of a major political party in the United States.
“No one who looked like Barack Obama was thought to be possible. But contrary to Donald Trump, I believe every time we knock down a barrier in America, it liberates everyone in America,” she said to resounding applause.
The day was also marked by a report that a Democratic National Committee “data analytics program” used by the Clinton campaign and others had been hacked, although the campaign said its own computer system was not compromised.
The Philadelphia rally followed the four-day Democratic National Convention in the city, where her campaign highlighted support not just from party luminaries like Mr. Obama, but also a retired four-star
general, lifelong Republicans disillusioned by Mr. Trump, family members of those lost to gun violence, and immigrants and Muslims who denounced Mr. Trump's rhetoric and policy proposals.
After the Philadelphia rally, Ms. Clinton set off on a bus tour with vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine through Pennsylvania and Ohio, including Pittsburgh and Youngstown, states that Mr. Obama carried twice but which Mr. Trump hopes to flip to the Republican side with his populist message.
Ms. Clinton will encourage companies to invest in their own workers, according to a Clinton aide, and tout a promise to invest $10 billion in infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy in her first 100 days in office.
Later Friday, Ms. Clinton and Ms. Kaine visited a K’nex factory in Hatfield, Montgomery County, where interns had built Ms. Clinton’s signature “H” out of the linking construction toys. The campaign picked the factory because the toys include a line targeted at girls, and teach crucial concepts for careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Mr. Trump made a campaign stop this week in Scranton, Pa., where he vowed he’d “have jobs flowing in, believe me.”
In a statement Friday, Mr. Trump’s campaign blasted Clinton’s “globalist agenda” and “radical amnesty plan” it said would “take jobs, resources, and benefits from the most vulnerable citizens of the United States and give them to the citizens of other countries.”
In a campaign stop in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, Mr. Trump said “O’ve been nice.,” But, he added, after the “lies” of Ms. Clinton’s convention speech Thursday night, “I don’t have to be so nice anymore. I’m taking the gloves off.”
And for the first time he encouraged his crowd’s anti-Clinton chants of “lock her up.”
“I’ve been saying let’s just beat her on Nov. 8,” he said, “but you know what? I’m starting to agree with you.”
Later in Denver, he condemned the optimistic picture of the nation Ms. Clinton painted at the Democratic National Convention.
He said Ms. Clinton was “talking last night about how wonderful things are.
“She made it sound like everything is rosy-dory. Things are not rosy-dory, folks.”
He claimed his opponent ignored recent terror attacks and disturbing trends in long-term unemployment and housing purchases.
Clinton supporters from around the region came to Philadelphia early Friday to see Ms. Clinton in person. A line stretched down Broad Street and wrapped around Cecil B. Moore Avenue before doors opened at 10 a.m.
Leslie Milner, a nurse from Buckingham, Bucks County, said she overslept her alarm Friday morning after staying up late all week to watch convention speeches on television.
She, her 16-year-old daughter, and her husband, rushed to catch a SEPTA train into the city and were standing on the floor of McGonigle Hall hours before Ms. Clinton was to appear.
“All my neighbors are Republican, and I say, `You cant vote for [Trump],’' ” she said. “I honestly don’t understand why the race is so close.”
Bill Askoy, 17, of Upper Darby, stood in the crowd before the rally began as the gymnasium filled with people and music played in the background.
He said that even though he can’t yet vote, he supports Ms. Clinton, especially for her proposal to raise the minimum wage.
Bill, who is Muslim, said he was offended by Mr. Trump's comments about Muslims. The GOP nominee has proposed banning Muslims from entering the country, at least temporarily, in response to terrorism.
“It was a little disgusting,” he said. “Muslims come here to be Americans.”
Shelly Sullivan, 58, of Ardmore, Montgomery County, said she was “looking forward to talking to people who are on the bubble” because they think Pennsylvania will vote safely Democratic.
Neighbors and friends, Ms. Sullivan said, have suggested they might vote for an independent candidate. Her message to them: “We need your vote.”
“She's for everybody,” added Ms. Sullivan, who works in sales and was wearing a blue shirt that said “Madame President.”
“I want Democratic Supreme Court justices,” she said.
On Friday night in Harrisburg, Ms. Clinton touted a new study by economist Mark Zandi, a former adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, that found Ms. Clinton’s economic proposals, if fully implemented, could lead to 10.4 million new jobs though 2020, 3.2 million more than if no changes were made. Ms. Clinton said that contrasts with an earlier finding by Mr. Zandi suggesting the economy could face a “lengthy recession” under Mr. Trump’s economic proposals, reducing jobs by as many as 3.5 million over a four-year term.
“He has cost people jobs all over our country,” Ms. Clinton said of Mr. Trump. “He talks about ‘Make America Great Again’ but he doesn’t make a single thing in America.”
Ms. Clinton didn’t mention that Mr. Zandi’s report, meanwhile, said it is “unrealistic” to think Congress would pass all of her proposals.
The Democrats were to visit Johnstown today. They are scheduled for a rally at 4:15 today at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh before heading to Youngstown. Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, are on the itinerary for Sunday.
The Democrats are scheduled for a rally at 4:15 today at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.