The campaigns for Clinton and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump are pushing get-out-the-vote efforts across the country, but hard pushes are being made in swing states like Ohio. More than 1 million Ohioans have voted early in this election, and it could reach close to 2 million which is how many voted in 2012. The millennial vote is important in this election as this is the largest generation in America.
Trump team reaction
“It’s shocking that Bernie Sanders still supports Hillary Clinton even as more information leaks out that she and Donna Brazile were sharing questions before debates, and the Democratic National Committee was conspiring against him the whole time to rig the primary for Hillary,” said Trump Ohio Communications Director Seth Unger.
“There is zero enthusiasm among millennials who supported Bernie Sanders to be a cog in the corrupt pay-to-play political machine that Hillary Clinton has been building for the last 30 years.”
Sanders crosses Ohio for Clinton
Sanders started his Ohio swing in Mahoning County at Youngstown State University where he addressed a crowd of around 250. In Cincinnati, Sanders “after we elect Hillary on Nov. 8, I want you to wake up on Nov. 9, roll up your sleeves and begin the process of taking on the billionaire class and transforming this country.”
That closing statement inspired many of the students in the crowd.
“I think that he’s speaking for everyone and I think he’s trying to get everyone involved,” said Claire Daniels, 19, of Dayton, an environmental studies major. “I think there’s still a lot that needs to be done in terms of women’s equality. I think we’re just getting started with that … and I think Hillary getting elected is going to be a big step towards that, not just America but everywhere.”
Imani Hart, an 18-year-old interior design student from Virginia, said she became more inspired to support Clinton than before the speech.
“At first I was a little hesitant about voting, and all of our issues aren’t going to get recognized,” she said. “But hearing a lot of Bernie’s thoughts and what he said, I know (Clinton’s) response is the same as what his was.”
Sanders also asked the crowd to think about those who fought against the status quo a century ago. He said those people fought for women’s equality, working conditions and other issues people today may not think about.
“Go back and put yourselves in the mind of those people and those places in those times, and the struggles they had to undertake were mammoth,” Sanders said. “And here we are today in exactly the same place.”
Sanders said there are issues that people need to fight, such as the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United that says political donations are equal to free speech, decreasing the cost of prescription medicine and increasing the minimum wage.
That led to Sanders’ standard pitch to make public colleges tuition-free “is of enormous consequence.”
“Today, when we talk about public education, it is not good enough to talk about first-grade through 12th-grade,” Sanders said. “We have got to make public colleges and universities tuition free.”
He said the world today isn’t like it was 40 or 50 years ago when a high school diploma could land “a pretty good job.”
Rachel Blank, of Erlanger, Kentucky, an early Sanders supporter summed up: “I love Bernie. I wanted him to win, but I love Hillary, too.”
Trump in Wilmington Friday, Clinton in Cleveland
* Donald Trump will be at Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services Inc. for a 4 p.m. rally Friday. You can get tickets at DonaldTrump.com. The doors open at 1 p.m. at 145 Hunter Dr., Wilmington.
* Hillary Clinton will be in Cleveland Friday and Sunday for events. You can find details on those events at HillaryClinton.com
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