Clinton taking New York campaign seriously
Touts her ties in bid to stop Sanders from stealing state
Trailing Sanders in Wisconsin, holding home state important.
NEWYORK — Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders may sound like more of a New Yorker, and even look like more of a New Yorker, but he still faces a steep challenge in overcoming Hillary Clinton’s deep roots with Democrats in this crucial state that votes April 19.
“She may not always ‘tawk’ like we Brooklynites ‘tawk,’ ” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said as he laid on a thick hometown accent while introducing Clinton at a spirited rally at the iconic-Apollo Theater in Harlem. “But when she speaks out, she changes minds, she changes hearts.”
The crowd delighted in Schumer’s reminder that her husband Bill Clinton, who could have relocated anywhere in the world upon leaving the White House, adopted Harlem as his headquarters— not that the crowd needed any reminding.
It was Hillary Clinton, the former senator fromthe state, who helped lead New York in rebuilding after Sept. 11, supporters said. It was Clinton, they added, who was unyielding in support of gun control on behalf of an urban constituency that has little love for the National Rifle Association, even as Sanders sometimes wavered.
“I love her to death,” said Stanley Watt, an 81-year-old Harlem resident, reflecting an exuberance one does not often encounter at Clinton rallies. “I love her more than anybody loves her, fromthe Senate to when she was a big shot in the, what do you call it? Oh yes, the secretary of state.”
Watt went on: “This is Bill Clinton’s home,” he exclaimed, pointing outside the theater. “He has an office right down there!”
The outpouring of adoration at the Apollo signaled what a tough challenge lies ahead for Sanders, even as he moves ahead of Clinton in Wisconsin, a state that votes next week. The most recent polling indicates Clinton is threatened there with a setback similar to the one she experienced early this month in Michigan.
Wisconsin’s leading poll, sponsored by Marquette University Law School, published new numbers Wednesday that showed Sanders leading by 4 percentage points.
Sanders continued his attacks on Clinton while campaigning there Wednesday, focusing on the international trade deals she has supported and the money she is raising from the financial industry and other corporations.
“We don’t represent Wall Street,” he said in Kenosha. “We don’t represent the drug companies or fossil fuel industry. We don’t want their money.”
Another Rust Belt loss would be most unwelcome for the front-runner, who is eager to sew up the nomination and focus her fire on Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.
But more important to the race right now is the bigger prize of April, which is diverse, delegate-rich New York.
Clinton is hitting the ground hard in New York, starting Wednesday by unveiling an ad that took direct aim at Trump and seeks to inspire the minority voters who have supported her overwhelmingly over Sanders. Thead, which touts Clinton’s embrace of diversity and features an array of New Yorkers from different races and cultures, looks right past Sanders, except through the implicit suggestion that she is more in tune with issues of race.
The villain in the spot is the Trump supporter who sucker-punched an African-American protester at a rally earlier this month.
“New Yorkers took a chance on me, and I will never forget that,” Clinton said at the Apollo. “Youhave always had my back and I’ve always tried to have yours.”
Clinton spoke with emotion about 9/11 and the urgent need to resist bigoted impulses in the aftermath of such tragedies, and she carefully drew contrasts between her approach and that of Sanders — mindful that she will need the support of his voters in the fall should she become the nominee.
“Some folks may have the luxury to hold out for the perfect,” she said. “But a lot of Americans are hurting and they can’t afford towait for that. They need the good, and they need it today.”
Clinton will be on the stump again just north of the city on Wednesday, while her husband will lead four separate rallies across Manhattan. By Friday, Hillary Clinton will be campaigning in Syracuse.
Sanders isn’t yielding. He hopes to draw a big crowd in the South Bronx on Thursday evening, and he has successfully pressured Clinton to agree to hold a debate in the next few weeks in New York.