Hillary Clinton fired up the most faithful Granite State Democrats on Saturday, outlining her vision for the future and the rationale behind her run in a well received speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s convention here.
“If you want a president who will tell you everything that is wrong with America and who is to blame for it, you’ve got plenty of other choices. And my goodness, didn’t we hear enough of that the other night at the Republican debate,” Clinton said to a cheering crowd. “But if you want a president who will listen to you, work her heart out to make your life better, and together to build a stronger, fairer, better country, then you are looking at her.”
The event is the largest Democratic state party convention in New Hampshire’s history, with roughly 4,000 people coming out to watch Clinton, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, among others, speak.
Clinton’s team of supporters and aides arrived outside the arena at 4:00 a.m., lining up along the street with signs as a show of force to the passing cars and other Democratic candidates.
That presence extended inside the arena, too, where many of the seats were filled with Clinton supporters. During her remarks, too, a few Sanders supporters clapped and cheered when she spoke about drug treatment, campaign finance reform and social security.
“Everyone needs a champion and I am just getting warmed up,” Clinton said. “I believe in America, but I believe in America, we should have each other’s backs. We should lift each other up, not tear each other down.”
Clinton’s remarks were chock full of red meat, lines aimed at connecting with the reliably Democratic primary voters.
The former secretary of state described CNN’s GOP debate this week as “15 candidates, five hours, not a single fighter for the middle class.”
And on her new favorite talking point — the candidacy of GOP front-runner Donald Trump — Clinton said his recent failure to correct a questioner about President Barack Obama’s faith was “shocking but not surprising.”
“He has been trafficking in prejudice and paranoia throughout this campaign,” Clinton said.
Not all Republicans, though, drew Clinton’s ire. Clinton mentioned South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham twice during her nearly 40-minute speech, noting that they worked together on National Guard issues during their time in the Senate and the fact that Graham said something nice about her at the GOP debate.
“Hillary Clinton has a list a mile long to help the middle class,” Graham said at the debate. Clinton said that was possibly the only true thing said during the GOP event.
Clinton was the first 2016 candidate to speak at the day-long event. Up after her: Sanders, O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig.
Recent polls show Clinton is behind in New Hampshire, trailing Sanders. A Monmouth University poll this week shows Sanders up by 7 points in the first-in-the-nation primary state, despite Clinton entering the race as a heavy favorite to win the nomination.
