Hillary: 'Party of Lincoln has become the party of Trump'

The Hill

By Jonathan Swan

August 28, 2015

Hillary: 'Party of Lincoln has become the party of Trump' 

Hillary Clinton is taking aim at the Republican presidential front-runner, proclaiming Friday that “the party of Lincoln has become the party of Trump.”

In a fiery speech to the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) annual summer meeting in Minneapolis, Clinton told a cheering audience that the rest of the GOP presidential field is Donald Trump "without the pizzazz or the hair."

Coming a day after a Trump speech where he had audience member pull his hair to prove it's his own, Clinton said, "A lot of people have said a lot of things about my hair over the years. So I do kind of know what Donald is going through. And if anyone wonders if mine is real, here's the answer: The hair is real; the color isn't. And come to think of it I wonder if that's true for Donald, too."

She criticized Trump, saying that in addition to saying "hateful things" about immigrants, he "also insults and dismisses women. Just yesterday he attacked me once again and said I didn't have a clue about women's health issues. Really? I mean you can't make this stuff up, folks. Trump actually says he would do a much better job for women than I would. Now that's a general election debate that's going to be a lot of fun."

Clinton's speech, which followed a more muted reception from the crowd for rival candidate Lincoln Chafee, centered on her campaign themes of economic inequality and equal pay for women. If that’s playing the gender card, she said, “then deal me in.”

The former secretary of State did not mention any of her Democratic rivals in the speech, nor did she use the same, much criticized comments she made on Thursday when she equated the GOP stance on women to that of terrorist groups. She also did not address the email controversy plaguing her campaign.

The Clinton camp has been seeking to lock in the support of influential DNC members as it faces the prospect of Vice President Biden making his own run for the White House.

On Thursday evening, the Clinton campaign released a series of memos, publicized by major news outlets, highlighting her strength in four critical states.

In a bid to sway undecided delegates, Team Clinton emphasized in the memos that the former first lady has a robust campaign infrastructure and an energetic ground game. The memos noted she has secured senior party endorsements and racked up local support in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Biden did not attend the Minneapolis meeting Friday, but supporters in the group “Draft Biden 2016” ensured he was not far from any of the DNC members’ minds.

The Draft Biden team distributed “I’m ridin with Biden” chocolate bars at the Hilton Minneapolis, according to The Wall Street Journal. The pro-Biden chocolates feature an image of the vice president wearing sunglasses and sitting behind the wheel of a sports car.

Los Angeles Times reporter Kathleen Hennessey tweeted a photograph of a Draft Biden flyer that awaited Democrats arriving at the DNC meeting. The flyer says “everything is lining up perfectly” for a 2016 Biden candidacy.

In a not-so-subtle dig at voters’ mistrust of Clinton, the flyer emphasized Biden’s likability and authenticity. “Voters want someone who looks them in the eye,” the flyer reads.

Two other Democratic contenders, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, are due to address the conference this afternoon.

O’Malley and Chafee received soft, polite clapping as DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz read their names at the morning session, while Clinton received thunderous applause. Sanders got the same, with screaming and whistling.

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