Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s first stop on the campaign trail following Monday night’s debate was Wake Technical Community College — where she spoke to an audience of nearly 1,500 people about college affordability, House Bill 2 and plans for her potential presidency.
Affordable education
Clinton said she wants “to make every educational opportunity available without sending you into debt and breaking your budget.”
Clinton announced she was meeting with Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday in New Hampshire to create a plan for a debt-free tuition at public universities and a way to refinance current debt at lower rates so students can pay off loans sooner. Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, was a stark advocate for free tuition during his campaign.
Adonna Biel, a senior studying political science, who attended the event, said this move shows that Hillary is making an effort to reach out to Sanders supporters.
“Obviously this is crunch time so it’s really important for her to encourage them to vote for her,” Biel said. “This shows supporters that her and Bernie are working together, which may help them sway in her favor.”
Deborah Ross, a North Carolina Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who supports Clinton and her stance on education, said the country should “expand access to education and training for all of our people, just like we do right here at Wake Tech.”
Also mirroring Sanders’ stance, Clinton made promises about increasing action to combat climate change — calling it one of the biggest economic opportunities the country has ever seen.
“We’re going to deploy half a billion more solar panels in the first four years of my administration and we will produce enough clean power to power every home in America in 10 years,” she vowed.
Continued attacks on Trump
With the first presidential debate ending the night before, Clinton was ready to criticize Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The Democratic candidate called out Trump for not paying “his fair share of taxes,” and how he “probably hasn’t paid a penny to support our schools, military or health care system.”
At the debate Monday evening, Trump made comments about how he rooted for the housing crises in 2008, to which Trump responded “That’s called business.”
She responded at Tuesday’s event, “What kind of person roots for 9 million people to lose their homes? One that should not be president, that’s for sure.”
While the audience waited for Clinton to arrive, other political figures like Ross, former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt and Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane spoke about their respect for Hillary, while also making their own criticisms of Trump.
McFarlane, an independent, publicly endorsed Clinton at the event Tuesday, and then quickly followed with, “we need a president who will build bridges, and not walls.”
Economic plans
“I want every family in North Carolina to know that help is on the way,” Clinton said.
She proposed solutions for a fairer economy such as raising the minimum wage, affordable child care, and mandated profit sharing and higher taxes for big businesses.
“I want more families to be able to go as far as their hard work will take them,” Clinton said.
With a focus on families, Clinton is a proponent of paid family leave, equal pay for women and making childcare 10 percent of what the average American family makes.
“We need to raise the national minimum wage and we need to guarantee equal pay for women’s work,” Clinton said. “It’s fair and if your mother, grandmother, sister or wife is working, don’t you want to see her be paid what she should be paid?”
Clinton said also plans to crack down on corporations by closing loopholes, imposing higher taxes on the upper class and making companies participate in profit sharing.
“We’re going to go where the money is and the money’s at the top,” Clinton said. “We’re going to go after millionaires, billionaires and corporations. We’re going to raise taxes for millionaires and billionaires and we’re going to close corporate loopholes.”
Charlotte and HB2
The shootings in Charlotte and House Bill 2 were also topics of concern among political figures at the rally.
“We have to make it clear that everyone is safer when there is respect from the law, for the communities they protect and respect for the law from the communities that are protected,” Clinton said. “And we’ve got to do something about the epidemic of gun violence that has taken too many lives in our country.”
A student that attended the event, Balla Ndure, a freshman studying electrical engineering at Wake Tech, said that he believes that Trump should have addressed race issues more directly during last night’s rally.
“It’s almost as if he only answered the questions he wanted to answer,” Ndure said. “He barely spoke about race or gender and those are things important to this state.”
Clinton also expressed her disapproval of HB2 and the impact its passage has had on North Carolina’s economy and the LGBT community.
“The very mean-spirited, wrong-headed decision by your governor to pass and sign House Bill 2 has hurt this state,” Clinton said. “But more than that it’s hurt people. It has sent a message to so many people that you’re not really wanted, that you’re not really part of us.”
Clinton encouraged voters to let their voices be heard by registering to vote and casting their votes on Nov. 8.
Through taking back “the White House and the U.S. Senate, going straight through North Carolina and taking back the governor’s mansion,” Ross believes through her and Clinton’s leadership, North Carolinians will be “stronger together.”
Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton takes pictures with her fans and supporters after speaking to a packed house of nearly 1,500 during her first campaign stop since Monday night's debate. Clinton spoke at Wake Technical Community College on Sept. 27 hitting on a few main topics such as HB2, education job creation and climate change.
