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Saturday Nov 23, 2024
Monday, 7 November 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Hillary Clinton joins Jay Z and Beyonce onstage at a campaign concert in Cleveland, Ohio, November 4, 2016 – REUTERS
Like bees to honey the Democrats were moving around critical battleground states on their Campaign’s closing days this weekend. The Hilary camp are making a major attempt to drive up African-American turnout where early voting figures suggest a far lower turnout than for Barrack Obama’s re- election campaign in 2012.
The weekend schedule commenced with a Hilary Clinton sponsored concert at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Centre headlined by Jay Z and Beyonce. Although suffering from a bad throat, Clinton was in high spirits, as though nothing was going to keep her down.
Clinton asked supporters to “imagine with me what it would be like to have Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office come next January. If Donald Trump were to win this election we would have a Commander-in-Chief who is completely out of his depth,” and whose ideas are, “dangerous,” said Clinton.
She cited Trump’s comments that more countries should have nuclear weapons. Trump would violate constitutionally protected religious freedom and his rhetoric would set a bad example for little girls and boys she said.
The crowd erupted in screams as Beyonce took the stage, delivering a heartfelt speech about what seeing a woman in the White House means to her.
“There was a time when a woman’s opinion did not matter if you were black, white, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, educated, poor or rich. If you were a woman it did not matter. Less than 100 years ago, women did not have the right to vote. Look how far we have come from having no voice to being on the brink of making history by electing our first woman President,” she said, to rapturous applause.
Clinton said that through the noise and distraction, what it really comes down to is what kind of future people want and what kind of President can help get there. “We won’t be distracted no matter what our opponents throw at us,” she said.
Clinton’s allies believe she still has a structural advantage that Trump can’t match, which will spell the difference in the end. They point to strong field organisation in battleground states that have been built over a period of months.
She is also looking to move past a bombshell announcement last week that the FBI is reviewing new e-mails that may involve her private server.
Her advantage in polls nationally and in key states narrowed and Trump used the e-mail development to slam Clinton in every campaign speech as she sought to change the subject. The former Secretary of State urged supporters to not “get distracted” as she sought to turn the spotlight back on Trump.
Her Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said last Friday that Clinton will not be mentioning the e-mail issue further in her speeches. The e-mails that sparked the FBI announcement were found on the laptop of disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The e-mails may or may not be significant to the investigation of Clinton’s private server.
However the re-emergence of the e-mail issue is making it difficult to end her campaign on as high a note as she hoped.
In an attempt to keep her voters motivated, Clinton spent time at an African-American church where she spoke about overcoming obstacles. “Everyone is knocked down in life,” she said, to an audience of about 300 church goers. “As my mother showed me and taught me, what matters is whether you get back up.”
Clinton is gaining ground in national polls. She will be in Cleaveland’s Public Auditorium this evening (Monday) at 4.30 p.m., where she will kick off what is expected to be one of the biggest rallies yet to be held in the State of Ohio with Cavaliers superstar Le Bron James. “I believe in what President Obama has done for our country and support her (Hillary’s) commitment to continuing that legacy,” James wrote last month, in an endorsement of Clinton.
“I tell my kids how important it is that they give back to the community because if basketball has taught me anything, it is that no one achieves greatness alone. It takes everyone working together to create real change. When I look at this year’s Presidential race, it is very clear which candidate believes the same thing.”
Vice Presedential candidate and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine headed to Arizona, where he could use his fluency in Spanish to rally Latino voters. The Democratic nominee’s primary rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders meanwhile, revved up young voters in Ohio and Clinton’s husband former President Bill Clinton headed for Las Vegas.
