Hillary Clinton Reaches Out To Women During Milwaukee Visit

For the first time during her 2016 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has visited Wisconsin.

Clinton made an effort on Thursday evening in Milwaukee to reach out to female voters and was critical of GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Gov. Scott Walker.

The Clinton campaign billed the event at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a “Women for Hillary Grassroots Organizing Meeting.” Clinton, the former secretary of state, New York’s U.S. senator and first lady, spent much of her speech talking about her plans to help women.

“I gotta tell you when I talk about equal pay for equal work and some of these issues that really affect a lot working women, the Republicans often say, ‘There she goes playing the gender card,’” she said. “Well, if advocating for equal pay for equal work is playing the gender card, deal me in. I am ready to play that as hard as I can.”

Trump is the frontrunner among the GOP presidential candidates, and Clinton spent some time criticizing the billionaire businessman. Although Walker has slipped in the public opinion polls about the Republican race, Clinton mentioned the governor, too.

“It seems to me just observing him, that Gov. Walker thinks because he busts unions, starves universities, guts public education, demeans women, scapegoats teachers, nurses and firefighters. He’s some kind of tough guy on his motorcycle,” she said.

On Thursday at a campaign event in Illinois, Walker said as president he’d stop the government from taking money out of the paychecks of federal employees for political union dues.

Clinton addressed the Republicans attack on funding for Planned Parenthood. She said one of the attackers has been Walker.

“He did defund Planned Parenthood, making it harder for some Wisconsin women to get those cancer screenings, those breast exams, that birth control, that life-saving preventive care,” she said.

Clinton also took up the issue of police shootings of African-American citizens, mentioning the Dontre Hamilton case in Milwaukee, and framing it as a women’s concern.

“We need to recognize that the ability of black mothers to raise their children in safety is a woman’s issue, it’s an American issue!” she said.

The audience of about 1,000, who were mostly women, cheered Clinton many times. Among the supporters, Mindy DeHate, of Whitefish Bay, who said Clinton delivered a compelling argument to women.

“Totally locked in,” DeHate said. “believe in women’s rights, believe in who she is, and love her stance on international business.”

Dolles Reed, of Milwaukee, said it’s time for a woman president.

“Our country needs to move forward,” said Reed. “Get away from the good, old boys network and stop the chauvinism, and it is time for equal pay for equal job done.”

But a recent Marquette University poll showed statewide support for Clinton dropped during the summer. She remains ahead of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont among Wisconsin Democrats, but there were Sanders supporters at the Clinton event.

Sandra Pucci, of Milwaukee, said Clinton hasn’t been bold enough.

“I think she needs to come out and say we need a minimum wage of $15 an hour,” Pucci said. “I think she needs to pledge to not wage war on Iran.”

Camille Johnson, of Glendale, also said Clinton hasn’t been tough enough on issues like regulating banks.

“She doesn’t seem to come out and make definitive statements, and it makes us think she doesn’t have a definitive plan,” she said.

But Johnson and Sandra Pucci said they’d vote for Clinton next year if she’s the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile Wisconsin’s Republican lieutenant governor is trying to draw more women and men to the GOP. At a Republican Party news conference on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch insisted Clinton is wrong on Planned Parenthood and women’s health issues.

“Hillary Clinton is far outside the norm and belief of Americans when it comes to abortion,” she said. “Right now, we want to protect women’s health but also babies.”

Kleefisch highlighted Clinton’s declining approval rating in the state, but brushed off dropping numbers in Wisconsin for Kleefisch’s boss, Scott Walker.