The likely Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, was in Columbus Tuesday talking about business and economics.
The nearly 90 degree heat didn’t keep supporters of Hillary Clinton from filling a building at a Columbus area high school. The room didn’t have air conditioning but that didn’t stop some repeat Hillary attendees such as retired teacher Jane Boyer of Upper Arlington.
“Well this is not the first time I’ve seen Hillary. Every chance I get, I come see her. I’ve got my woman card and I’m happy to have a woman running,” she said.
Millennial Zach Bernstein of Columbus was there for a different reason. He was part of an AARP campaign. “I want to hear her talk about social security," said Bernstein. "It’s not a big thing you’d hear from someone who is 25 but I think it’s an incredibly important issue."
Clinton's focus
But it wasn’t the issue that Clinton focused on in her speech. She talked about the economy and, specifically, how she thinks presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump woul wreck it. She told the crowd Trump would treat it like a game.
“Actually it’s not like that at all. The full faith and credit of the United States is not something we just gamble away. That could cause an economic catastrophe,” she said.
Clinton didn’t give a lot of specifics about her own economic plans but she did say hers would focus on improving salaries of workers as well as the education and medical needs of families. And when it comes to tax plans, Clinton said Trump’s was bad for middle class families.
“Under Donald Trump’s plan, these Wall Street millionaires would pay a lower tax rate than many working people. And of course, Donald himself, would get a huge tax cut from his own plan but we don’t know exactly how much because he won’t release his tax returns,” Clinton said.
Clinton mocked Trump a bit when referring to his business practices. She said he had a pattern of leaving others to pick up the tab when his businesses ran into trouble.
“He’s written a lot of books about business that all seem to end at chapter 11,” she said.
Trump fires back
As Clinton railed on in her speech, Trump himself was firing back on his Twitter account. He said Clinton defrauded the country by using her job as Secretary of State as “a personal hedge fund to get herself rich.” The Ohio Republican Party put out a written statement citing a new Quinnipiac Poll that shows voters trust Trump to create jobs more than they trust Hillary Clinton. Clinton didn’t lay out specifics for her plans - but then again, some weren’t really expecting that anyway.
Pat Merryman of suburban Columbus said she’d been a Hillary Clinton fan for decades and was there to witness history. “It’s startling to just be part of history. I mean, what else can you say besides that?” she said.
Of course, if Clinton receives the nomination as is expected that would be historic - and it would make history if she became the first woman elected president of the United States.
