EVERETT — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brings her campaign for president to Everett on Tuesday where she will share her blueprint for creating jobs and tackling abusive trade practices of foreign countries.
Clinton, frontrunner for the Democratic Party nomination, also will brandish her arguments on the importance of the Export-Import Bank to the vitality of the Boeing Co. and its thousands of Machinists working in Washington. It will be her opportunity to spotlight a clear difference with her opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who wants to abolish the bank which provides financing to foreign companies buying U.S.-made goods and services.
The public event begins at 12:15 p.m. in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751 building at 8729 Airport Road. Doors open at 11 a.m.
“We encourage all of our members to get involved. This is an opportunity for them to hear the message directly from Secretary Clinton,” said Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for District Lodge 751.
Clinton is endorsed by the International Association of Machinists. That decision was made by leaders of the international and did not involve District Lodge 751.
The union hall where Clinton will speak is located across the street from the Boeing plant where machinists assemble commercial airplanes such as the 787 Dreamliner. Not far away is another facility where the next generation passenger jet, the 777X, will be manufactured.
Sales of Boeing commercial planes often hinge on the ability of customers to obtain financing from the Export-Import Bank, company officials have said.
While foreign oil and gas companies also are beneficiaries of the bank, so, too, are a slew of agricultural and manufacturing businesses in Washington whose survival depends on exporting their products.
Sanders, in debates and speeches, describes the bank as a purveyor of corporate welfare. Sanders was the only U.S. senator in the Democratic caucus to vote against the bank’s most recent reauthorization.
In a debate with Clinton in early March, he specifically targeted the Ex-Im bank’s relationship with Boeing.
“Do you know what the other name of the Export-Import Bank is, what it’s called in Washington?” Sanders said. “It’s called the Bank of Boeing, because Boeing itself gets 40 percent of the money discharged by the Export-Import Bank.”
Some of the bank’s strongest defenders hail from Washington.
Two of them, Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, will join Clinton on Tuesday and likely echo the candidate’s message that Sanders’ approach would cripple Washington’s economy. Also speaking Tuesday will be Jon Holden, president of District Lodge 751.
Clinton’s visit comes with Democrats in Washington preparing to caucus Saturday to choose their nominee for president.
She arrives two days after Sanders held rallies in Vancouver, Seattle and Spokane. Roughly 25,000 people turned out for those three events combined, according to published reports.
There are 101 delegates to be allotted proportionally based on results of the caucuses. There also are 17 superdelegates, including the governor, Democratic members of Congress and party leaders. To date, Gov. Jay Inslee, Murray, Cantwell and the state’s six Democratic House members are backing Clinton.
When Clinton finishes in Everett, she will head to Puyallup for a private meeting with tribal leaders, attend a private fund raiser in Medina and a rally at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle Tuesday night. Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, is scheduled to speak Tuesday at campaign events in Tacoma.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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