Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton gives an economic speech in Columbus, Ohio on June 21, 2016.
Hillary Clinton used an economic speech in Columbus, Ohio to attack Donald Trump on an issue American voters overwhelmingly favor him over her to handle. The former secretary of state and presumptive Democratic nominee touted the 14 million private sector jobs that have been created under President Barack Obama while conceding there is much work to do.
“America’s economy isn’t yet where we want it to be,” she said. “Inequality is too great and wages are too low.”
She also argued that she is better prepared to handle economic issues, though polls show voters believe otherwise.
“I actually offer specifics because they matter,” she said. I “helped break down barriers” for the poor as a lawyer and “fought for health insurance for all” as First Lady.
Then, she contrasted her supposedly successful efforts to Donald Trump’s “reckless” economic record.
“He’s dangerous on the economy too,” she said. “Just like he shouldn’t have a finger on the button, he shouldn’t have his hands on the economy. Debt will explode and stock prices will plummet.”
“We can’t let Trump bankrupt us like we are one of his casinos,” Clinton said during her Tuesday speech.
However, Democrats privately acknowledge the speech was met with a rather unenthusiastic and tepid response by the audience. Clinton camp operatives admitted to PPD Monday the speech served to validate concerns that their candidate isn’t either President Obama or her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Rather than inspire or seek to convince undecided or persuadable voters to come over to Mrs. Clinton, they instead note the plan is to make Mr. Trump so unpalatable to voters they either stay home or vote against him.
While Mrs. Clinton leads nationally, her lead in swing states is either slight or non-existent while polling in the low to mid 40s. As the de facto incumbent candidate, who has been a known quantity in U.S. politics for decades, they acknowledge her weakness and stress her opponent is a target rich environment.
The Clinton campaign recently reserved more than $40 million in swing-state ad buys for the next six weeks.
“This campaign will be won in June,” one operation told PPD. “The plan is to do what President Obama did to Mitt Romney; define him before the voters have a chance to get to know him.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump said he is planning a “big speech tomorrow to discuss the failed policies and bad judgment of Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
“How can Hillary run the economy when she can’t even send emails without putting entire nation at risk?” Trump tweeted, referring to an FBI investigation into whether Clinton exposed classified information on a private email server while secretary of state.
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