DALLAS – Hillary Clinton is the person who can bring the country together, Bill Clinton said Monday in Dallas as he urged Texans to make his wife the next U.S. president.
In a rally at Paul Quinn College, the former president touted two ways his wife was the best choice: She has a better approach on the issues than Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, and she is more inclusive than Republican front-runner Donald Trump, he said.
“America never stopped being great,” Clinton said in an obvious shot at Trump, who has been campaigning with the “Make America Great Again” slogan. “We just need to make America whole again.”
One way to do that, Clinton said, is by addressing inequality.
He said inequality was the reason many Americans could not relate to the achievements President Barack Obama outlined in last month’s State of the Union address.
Obama noted that more Americans had health insurance than before and that the U.S. had the most young and diverse workforce in the world.
“A lot of people looked at that really pretty picture that he painted of the future and they couldn’t find themselves,” Clinton said. “Our job is to put every American in that pretty picture.”
Kent Peterson, 61, a Richardson Army veteran, said the Clintons’ focus on equity among Americans resonates with him.
“You don’t hear the other candidates talking about that,” he said after the rally. “Hillary’s real.”
Clinton is the first former president to visit Paul Quinn, a historically black school in southern Dallas. More than 2,000 jammed into the student center to hear him Monday night.
“This college works the way we think America should work,” Clinton said. “Everybody gets a chance. Everybody gets to learn.”
The former president dutifully outlined a list of Hillary Clinton’s goals, including making college affordable, reducing student debt, making America a “clean energy superpower” and modernizing the country’s infrastructure.
He also suggested the idea of free college tuition for the “middle class on down” and a tuition payback program that would allow students to pay off loans in 20-plus years at reasonable interest rates in arrangements similar to a home mortgage.
Hillary Clinton’s Democratic rival Sanders has also addressed free college tuition – but for everyone.
“Those of us in upper income groups should pay for their own kids’ tuition,” Clinton said.
Te’Ana Washington, 18, a Quinn College Scholars who sat on stage with Clinton, said she would like Hillary Clinton to be able to implement her plans for college tuition so that she won’t finish college saddled with debt the way her mother is.
Her mother, Macheica Crawford, who was in the audience, said she was won over by Hillary Clinton’s plan to connect and empower Americans.
“The most important thing is reaching out to those who don’t have a hand,” Crawford said. “They are overlooked because their dollar doesn’t mean very much.”
Trying to deport immigrants in the country illegally, as some candidates have suggested, is an impractical solution, Bill Clinton said.
“You crash the economy and look foolish,” he said.
He also said Texas should expand Medicaid, something Gov. Greg Abbott has resisted.
“Eventually, Texas will have to take the Medicaid expansion,” he said. “It’s a good deal for you.”
In recent weeks, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has blitzed Texas with events featuring the former secretary of state, her husband and other surrogates. Before his Dallas visit Monday, Bill Clinton stumped for his wife in the Rio Grande Valley.
Clinton hopes delegate-rich Texas will put distance between her and Sanders.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Sanders said there were areas in Texas he hoped to win.
Texas’ elected Democrats overwhelmingly support Clinton. Those include U.S. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth.
“I’m here to let you know that I have Hillary’s back,” said Johnson, who introduced Clinton. “Hillary has been fighting for communities like ours throughout her adulthood. She has a long history of standing up to minorities and women.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
