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Welcome to another guest edition of Hillary News & Views, while regular writer Lysis is on vacation. Aphra behn will be hosting tomorrow, and Lysis is expected back on Monday. Thanks also to the enterprising volunteers who are now hosting open threads in the afternoon (“Hillary Hangout”) and evenings, which have attracted lively (and friendly) comments and conversation.
The two major events from yesterday were a speech in Harlem and an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s show. The Harlem speech was at the landmark Apollo Theater, one of the preeminent venues of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s and beyond, which hosted such musical greats as Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson, and Aretha Franklin, and the TV show “Live from the Apollo.” Clinton was introduced by fellow New York Senator Chuck Schumer, and welcomed as a homecoming celebrity and long-time friend of the community. What struck me listening to clips from the speech was her skill and comfort with the call-and-response cadencing associated with the African-American preaching tradition, with waves of “yes” or “amen” to carry the speaker along and hold her up.
The full video of the speech is available at the bottom of floridageorge’s diary. There’s also an extensive report in the New Yorker.
Clinton was then interviewed by Rachel Maddow (as was Sanders). Floridageorge did a full diary that includes the full video, a link to the full transcript, and excerpts, so I won’t repeat that here. There was also considerable liveblogging in last night’s open thread (warning: lengthy comment thread). Clinton looked confident, prepared, and articulate. She did a full-throated smackdown of Donald Trump’s comments about punishing women who have abortions (which even he has since walked back), and nicely tied Trump to the other Republican candidates and the Republican program for the past several decades. She also said Trump was “dangerously wrong” and “in over his head” on foreign policy proposals such as abandoning NATO and disengaging from East Asia.
Clinton also has her first ad up in New York, which also goes after Trump, and promotes her contrasting message of inclusion and uplift:
Clinton received another crucial New York endorsement yesterday, from District Council 37, the largest labor union in New York representing 121,000 public employees and 50,000 retirees:
We are proud to endorse Secretary Clinton as the next president of our great nation. We supported her first run for office back in 2000, when she was elected to the U.S. Senate. We know her serious commitment to public service and her history of fighting for others, especially children and working families. She can count on this union to work diligently to get out the vote for the April 19 Primary in New York.
The endorsement was made after a vote at the union’s monthly meeting of elected representatives. DC 37’s parent union, the the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), has also endorsed Clinton; having the local endorsement puts thousands of phone-bankers and canvassers to work for her. Bill Clinton will speak at a rally at DC 37 headquarters today. Clinton also was endorsed by an impressive list of political leaders in the Capitol Region.
A new Quinnipiac poll out this morning shows Clinton leading Sanders in New York 54-42 (or, as they put it, “Adopted Daughter Thumps Native Son”). While this is tighter than previous polls, it still gives her a significant lead — but not without continued hard work and organizing by staff and volunteers.
Clinton confirmed to Maddow that she will be returning to Wisconsin this weekend, squashing the media speculation that she had abandoned it and was essentially conceding the state to Sanders. A new poll (Marquette), blogged more fully by First Amendment, shows Sanders slightly ahead there (49-45), within the margin of error. She received an endorsement yesterday from the “Fair Wisconsin” PAC, the electoral arm of Wisconsin’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, reading in part:
In the U.S. Senate, Clinton championed hate crime legislation, fought for federal non-discrimination legislation to protect LGBT Americans in the workplace, and advocated for an end to restrictions that blocked LGBT Americans from adopting children. As Secretary of State, she advanced LGBT rights abroad and enforced stronger anti-discrimination regulations within the State Department, declaring on the global stage that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.
The group went on to detail Clinton’s extensive platform showing how she would promote LGBTQ rights as President.
Finally, a few words about my home state of Rhode Island, which votes in the April 26 Northeast Cluster. There are reports here, as in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, of more extensive than usual party-switching in advance of the March 27 deadline. (RI is a semi-closed primary; unaffiliated voters can ask for either ballot, but anyone registered to one party — including Green and Moderate — can only get that ballot.) It’s not entirely clear who is switching and why, but it makes an already too-hard-to-call election even more difficult to predict. (It hardly matters; we have only 24 delegates, and the Clinton’s 538 target here is only 11.) I’ll be heading off later this morning to volunteer at a fundraiser with Rep. Joaquin Castro at a beautifully restored 18th century bank, now a private residence.
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