Hillary Clinton pledged to crack down on "abuses of
our workers and markets" by China if elected president and said she would
block harmful free-trade deals.
She made that pledge in a speech Wednesday at the annual
convention of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO in Philadelphia.
"Organized labor will always have a champion in the
White House and a seat at the table," Clinton told a crowd of several
hundred attendees at the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia Hotel.
She spoke the morning after losing the Wisconsin
Democratic primary to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who hammered her for the
enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement in her husband's
administration in the 1990s and for her support for other trade deals.
Clinton warned her audience against the
"distortions" of her trade record that she said they will hear in the
weeks leading up to the April 26 Pennsylvania primary. She said she voted
against an agreement with Columbia (CAFTA) as a U.S. senator from New York and
opposes the pending Trans Pacific Partnership, after having helped negotiate it
as secretary of state in the Obama administration.
"I will have your back, I will stop dead in its
tracks any trade deal that hurts America," Clinton promised.
Clinton has been endorsed by 25 national unions,
including the Service Employees International Union, AFSCME, which represents
government workers; the American Federation of Teachers; and the United Food
and Commercial Workers.
Sanders has been endorsed by the Communications Workers
of America, the American Postal Workers Union and National Nurses United.
With the Wisconsin victory, Sanders has now won six of
the last seven contests against Clinton. His streak has raised some concerns
among Democrats about Clinton's vulnerabilities, including persistent voter
doubts about her honesty and trustworthiness as expressed in polls.
That's a long-term challenge as Clinton seeks to energize
the Democratic base to support her in the fall. In Wisconsin exit polls, six of
10 Demoratic primary voters said they found her to be honest and trustworthy.
Sanders ran even with Clinton among women, who have
buoyed her in other races. He won both higher- and lower-income voters,
including union households, and broke even with her among moderates.
Still, Sanders' relative success has not made a
significant dent in Clinton's lead in delegates, the metric that counts the
most in winning the Democratic nomination. Since the party allocates delegates
in proportion to a candidates' votes in primaries and caucuses, that makes it
difficult for underdogs to make up ground.
The Vermont senator would need to massive victories in
New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to have a realistic chance.
In an interview with Politico for a podcast, posted
earlier Wednesday, Clinton said "I'm not even sure he's a Democrat"
when asked about Sanders. He serves in the Senate as an independent and calls
himself a democratic socialist.
Source: Philly.com
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