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Posts Tagged ‘Hillary Victory Fund’

It began with this.

WE STAND WITH DONNA!

Donna Brazile is an amazing woman and strong Democrat who has fought tirelessly to protect our voting rights, provided a voice for the voiceless and championed issues like increasing the min wage and equal pay for women. We stand with Donna, because Donna stands and has always stood with US! Looking forward to her continued service on the DNC as she consistently puts people first!

I received it in Mark Murphy’s name.  Mark is my friend. The message was that elements were trying to push Donna Brazile out of the Democratic Party. That didn’t seem fair, so I signed.

Then came an email request from Donna to donate to the party. So I did. In support.

Today’s breaking news, starting with an excerpt in Politico and followed by stories in several major publications  including The Daily Beast, The New York Post, and Newsweek to name a few, that Donna Brazile has a book out in which she supposedly describes how Hillary Clinton “took over” the Democratic Party (CNN is using the verb “hijacked”) came as a shock.

I will not link to any of the articles. What I can tell you is that DB is trending on Twitter and a good deal of of the comments are calling her out for her lies and her self-promotion. Here are a few examples, but you should go look for yourself. Some retweeting wouldn’t hurt while you’re there.

On Facebook, all my PUMA friends suddenly came roaring through!

After Hillary accepted Secretary of State, I purged most of the PUMA posts here although I have occasionally referred to our angry coalition. I didn’t want to affect opinions of Hillary’s work.

But now the game has changed. We thought, in supporting DB these past few weeks, that we were supporting the traditional Dem Party. Now it appears that Donna has tossed her support toward Bernie, who remains an Independent, and his “revolution” that wants to drive the party far to the left.

It all smells like political treachery, self-promotion, and week-old jambalaya. We are not having it!

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On her busy birthday, Hillary shuttled to Tampa to continue her stump through Florida. Angela Bassett participated, and Hillary was introduced by chef José Andrés who would have been with Trump officially opening his D.C. hotel. Andrés pulled out of locating his restaurant under Trump’s umbrella, and chose to stand with Hillary at the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park event instead.

Joined by José Andres in Tampa, Clinton Calls Out Trump’s Self-Serving Agenda

Today at a packed rally in Tampa on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton shared her vision for creating an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Clinton was joined by acclaimed chef José Andres who shared his experience as an immigrant who will proudly vote for the first time this year, casting his ballot for Hillary Clinton.

Andres elected to campaign with Hillary Clinton in Florida, while Donald Trump was promoting the opening of his hotel – the 32nd public campaign event he has hosted at one of his own properties. The chef was originally part of the Trump hotel project until Trump’s offensive comments calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” and criminals compelled Andres to pull out of his planned restaurant and refuse to invest in the Trump business.

From his using his presidential campaign to promote his business, to a decades-long practice of stiffing small businesses, to outsourcing jobs, to his proposal to cut taxes for billionaires like himself at the expense of everyone else, Trump’s self-serving agenda is clear. He built a career on stiffing small business owners, bankrupting casinos, avoiding taxes and leaving workers hanging. And on the campaign trail, he has proposed a trickle down economic plan that would help billionaires like himself at the expense of working families. It is clear that Trump, as president, would put his own interests before those of the American people.

In Tampa, Clinton promoted a very different message: We need an economy that works for everyone, comprehensive immigration reform, debt-free college and a higher minimum wage. “We need to build a stronger and fairer America,” Clinton said.

Clinton also asked supporters to elect Democrats up and down the ballot, including Patrick Murphy for U.S. Senate. She touted the 2 million Floridians who have already cast their ballots and encouraged supporters to head to straight to the polls and vote early.

Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:

“[…] my birthday being here in Tampa! I am so, so grateful to José for that wonderful introduction. He’s an incredibly talented chef, but more than that, I have to say he’s a humanitarian. He just came back from Haiti, once again, where he goes periodically to help feed people. He’s been doing it ever since the terrible earthquake, going to help people in remote villages – and he does that all over the world when it comes to making sure that there are clean cookstoves so that people can cook, primarily women and children, without fear of getting sick from inhaling all the smoke. I enlisted José’s help when I was Secretary of State on the clean cookstoves initiative. And as you heard, he’s also a proud immigrant and – he is standing up to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, and he’s doing it in a very courageous way because he sacrificed his business. He’d been asked by the Trump Organization to put a restaurant into the new hotel that Trump was talking about on TV today, in Washington, and after José heard the kinds of things that Donald Trump was saying about immigrants, he said, ‘No, I refuse to open a restaurant in that hotel.’ That is really gutsy.

And today was a perfect time to have José be with us because, as I said, Donald Trump is taking time off the campaign trail to officially open the hotel. And yesterday, here in Florida, he took time out to invite the press to listen to his employees talk about what a great boss he is while he was watching and listening to them. And today, in opening that hotel, I think it’s important to note that he once again relief on undocumented workers. The same people he has been insulting and demonizing throughout this campaign. So, like with so much else that Donald Trump says, he says one thing and then he does something different. Many of the products in the hotel were made overseas rather than here in the United States, and he even sued the District of Columbia to pay lower taxes. That is the way that he does business.

Now, we’ve actually learned in this campaign that Donald Trump is the poster boy for everything wrong with our economy. He refuses to pay workers and contractors from Atlantic City to Miami to Las Vegas. He stiffs small businesses. I take that one personally because my dad was a small businessman. And I’ve met so many people who did projects for Donald Trump – provided pianos for one of his casinos, installed drapes for one of his hotels, laid the marble, put in the glass, washed the dishes, painted – and then weren’t paid. I just think that is fundamentally wrong and that is not the kind of experience we need in the Oval Office.

So I’m grateful to José and I want to thank everyone else – my great friend, your United States Senator Bill Nelson. Congresswoman Kathy Castor. Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who’s here with his two daughters. Governor Charlie Crist, soon to be Congressman Charlie Crist. I have to say, we’ve got two great candidates here: David Singer, candidate for the House of Representatives; and Rena Frazier, another candidate. And we have the great talent of Angela Bassett with us today.

So, my friends, here’s the advice that I got. It is a beautiful day in Tampa, but it’s warm. And some of you have been here a while, right? And I’m watching the flags. So long as they’re waving, I know there’s a breeze. If they stop waving, I’m really going to cut this short.

But let me start by thanking you – thanking you for being here. [Chants of “Hillary!”] Thank you. Thank you. Well, I’ll tell you, if I ever need a pickup, I’m coming back to Tampa, Mayor. And with 13 days left in this election, we cannot stop for a minute. No complacency here. Nobody flagging. We’ve got to get everybody out to vote. And I hope in addition to the people that I’ve mentioned, someone who’s not here I hope you will support – that is Congressman Patrick Murphy, to send him to the United States Senate. I think you’ll be pleased because he’s an independent voice. He’s a problem-solver. He believes in comprehensive immigration reform. He has stood with Planned Parenthood against the attacks that it has suffered. He has even brought Democrats and Republicans together to try to protect our environment and fund Everglades restoration. He’ll stand up to the gun lobby and advocate for commonsense gun safety measures. He’ll defend Social Security and Medicare, not cutting or privatizing those two essential programs. So please, do your best to make sure we send Patrick Murphy to the Senate.

Now, I got to ask you, anybody see the last debate? You know, I have now stood next to Donald Trump for four and a half hours, proving conclusively I have the stamina to do the job. And every time he says one of those outrageous things that he does have a – yeah, ‘Wrong’ – he does have a way of saying, I just keep remembering Michelle Obama’s words: when he goes low, we go high.

But I got to say, he said something in the last debate we’ve never heard from anybody running for president. He basically said that he’s not sure – he refused to say that he would respect the results of the election. Now, this is a guy who said the Emmys were rigged, so you can’t really take what he says very seriously. But this is a problem because the first thing a president does at noon on January 20th is to take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. And if you are casting doubts, you want to keep people in suspense as to whether you will respect the outcome of an election, that is contrary to who we are as Americans. We have our elections; we’ve had them from George Washington forward. We’re going to keep having them and show what a democracy looks like to the rest of the world.

I believe strongly that the American people are going to reject this dark, divisive vision of America, and it’s happening, my friends. We have reached a milestone. More than 200 million Americans are registered to vote. That’s the biggest number ever. And that number includes 50 million young people. And you know what else? More than 10 million people have already voted, including 2 million right here in Florida. I’m hearing some great stories from people. Let me just tell you one. It’s about Steven, from St. Augustine. He’s been fighting a rare form of leukemia and heart disease. He’s been in and out of the hospitals a dozen times in the last two years. But he knows how important his vote is. So I heard yesterday he ditched his oxygen tank, which I would not have recommended – clung to his walker, stood in line so he could cast his vote for a better America. And if Steven can do that, nobody has any excuses. And I think this extends not just to Democrats but to Republicans and independents, and I am proud to have support from Republicans and independents here, across Florida, and across America who agree with me that we should reject hate and division.

We have seen Donald Trump insult nearly every person in America, and I just find that so intolerable. Because look at this diverse crowd; look at Tampa. It’s a cosmopolitan city. Florida is paving the way for what our country will look like, and we need to be lifting each other up, listening to each other, respecting each other, not sowing seeds of hatred and bigotry. And I think one of my biggest jobs after this election will be bringing our country together, and I’m going to need your help.

We’re going to get the economy working for everybody, not just people at the top, with new jobs in infrastructure. That rail system, Bob, that you want, we’re going to get it because it would help you so much. Think of the people we’d put to work – technology, innovation, research, advanced manufacturing, and yes, small business. I want to be the best small business president you can have, to help people start and grow their businesses. But we’re also going to make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. I know we can create millions of jobs, and we can protect Florida, especially coastal Florida, and we can protect our planet at the same time. You’re already seeing the results of climate change here in Florida. I was just in Miami, and they actually have flooding on sunny days with no rain. People are calling 3-1-1 because they think a water main broke, but it’s the oceans rising. So I know there is no state that could benefit more from a clean energy agenda than Florida, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

We’re also going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. If your family makes less than $125,000, which is most families in America, you’re not going to have to pay a penny to go to a public college or university. If your family makes more than that, you’re not going to have to go into debt – pay what you can afford, and then we’re going to make sure you can go without getting a big debt, because that drags people down. And for people who already have debt, we are going to help you refinance it and pay it off.

And I want to say something to all of the teachers and educators. I want to work with you and be a good partner with you. And I think there should be more than one way, more than just a four-year college degree, to get a good job with a good middle-class life for you and your families. So let’s invest in more technical education in high school, in our community colleges. Let’s have more apprenticeship programs – labor and business together.

But while we grow the economy, let’s make it fairer. We need to raise the national minimum wage so that people who work full-time aren’t left in poverty. I got to tell you, I was raised to believe in hard work. My grandfather was a factory worker, my dad had a small business, and we really believed you’ve got to work for what you get in life, right? But if you’re working, you shouldn’t be at the point where you cannot even afford food or clothes or rent at the end of the year.

And isn’t it finally time to guarantee equal pay for women’s work? You know, this is not just a women’s issue. This is a family issue. If you’ve got a mother, a wife, a sister, or a daughter working, it’s your issue. And unlike my opponent, we’re going to ask the wealthy, the millionaires and billionaires, to pay their fair share, because we’re going to close the loopholes and make sure no multimillionaire ever pays a lower tax rate than a nurse or a teacher or a police officer or a firefighter. And I will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

So when you go to the polls, vote to grow the economy, more jobs with rising incomes, vote to make the economy fairer. And compare that with what my opponent has proposed. He really believes if you give trillions – that’s trillions with a ‘t’ – trillions in tax cuts to the wealthy, millionaires, billionaires, big corporations, everything will trickle down. Now, we know that doesn’t work; we’ve seen it. And it’s pretty rich coming from a guy who claims to be so rich, who hasn’t paid a dime in federal income taxes in 20 years. He says not making taxes makes him smart. Well, I don’t know. I don’t know how smart you have to be to lose a billion dollars in one year. And besides, what kind of genius loses money running a casino, for heaven’s sakes?

Actually, it sounds like a few people have been at casinos here. But this means he’s contributed zero, okay? He actually has the gall to call our military a disaster. Not only is he wrong, but what right does he have to say that? He hasn’t contributed a penny to our military, not a penny to our veterans, not a penny to health care or education, not a penny to highways or infrastructure. This is a false – false – charge that he makes about all the problems in our country.

And I’ll tell you something; we did a little research. He’s been denigrating America for decades. This didn’t start with his birther lie against President Obama. It didn’t even start running against me. Back in 1987, he took out a $100,000 ad in The New York Times criticizing President Reagan. He said our leaders were the laughing stock of the world. So this is a guy who criticizes everybody but himself. And at some point, you got to say, wait a minute, we’re better than that. We are stronger than that. We want to forward – forward – into the future with confidence and optimism, and that’s what we’re offering in this campaign.

I got to tell you, it is not just what we’re against that should motivate you to go to the polls; it’s what we are for. And I believe strongly that what we’re for will make it possible for all of us, and especially our kids and our grandkids, to have the best future. America’s best days can still be ahead of us. But we can’t make any of this happen if we don’t have you voting.

Now, Donald Trump says he can still win, and he’s right. That’s why it’s so important everyone gets out and votes. And here in Florida – in a lot of places, you can only vote on Election Day, but here in Florida, voting couldn’t be easier. Early voting began on Monday. In south Florida, it goes through Sunday, November 6 around the state. You can go to an early voting site between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. In fact, the County Center on East Kennedy Boulevard is just a 10-minute walk from here. You can go vote right after this event. And we’ll have staff ready to help you get there. And you can go to iwillvote.com to confirm your polling place and make a plan to vote.

But I also hope you will volunteer these last two weeks. We’re reaching out to everybody. So go to hillaryclinton.comand sign up to volunteer. Take out your phone and text J-O-I-N, and that is 47246. We can use you. We’re making millions of phone calls in Florida. We’re knocking on maybe by the time we finish millions of doors.

We don’t want anybody to be left out or left behind because on January 20th, America will have a new president. I’ve got to say – so I’ve got to say to you that change is inevitable in life. Right? And so the real question is, what kind of change are we going to have? And I want you to talk to anybody you know who is either thinking of not voting or maybe thinking of voting for my opponent. No. I’m serious. I’m serious. After this election, if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, we are going to reach out to everybody. Right? And ask. Ask the people you’re talking to what kind of change they really want because I don’t think most Americans want the kind of divisive and dark change Donald Trump is offering: mass deportations that will rip families apart, a repeal of gun-free school zones on day one, going back to the day when insurance companies could discriminate against us if we have a preexisting condition, letting Wall Street write its own rules, denying the science of climate change, rolling back marriage equality, defunding Planned Parenthood, the hugest tax breaks ever for the wealthy, and abroad abandoning our alliances and allowing more countries to get nuclear weapons.” AUDIENCE: “No.”

HILLARY CLINTON: “Now, that may be change, but, boy, that’s not the change we need. And my vision is different. It’s more hopeful, optimistic, and unifying. I want us to be a country where every student could afford to go to college if that’s what you choose. I want us to be a country where millions of people are working in good, high-paying jobs and in new industries, like clean energy and advanced manufacturing. I want us to be a country where hard-working immigrants, who pay taxes – and, by the way, one-half of undocumented workers pay federal income taxes, which means they are paying more federal income taxes than Donald Trump paid. And a country where we not only have equal pay for our work but affordable childcare, where we’re respected in the world, working with our allies to defeat terrorism and stop the spread of nuclear weapons. So yes, change is coming, The choice is yours about what kind of change we’ll have.

And I hope you will choose to be part of this campaign because it’s not just about winning on November 8th, as important as that is. It is about getting to work because I do believe we are stronger together.

Tim Kaine and I wrote a book laying out our agenda because I think you deserve to know what I will try to do as your president. So if you will help, we will come together to give every American the chance to chart your own future and contribute to our great country. Let’s prove once and for all that love trumps hate.

Thank you.”

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A little cake on the plane on the way home.
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The best birthday present you can give Hillary today is a donation.  She is working hard to tip the scales in Florida and other battleground states, not just for her White House bid, but for House and Senate seats and local tickets.

hillaryballons2

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Continuing her sweep through Florida, Hillary received a rousing birthday welcome from supporters in Lake Worth today.  Hillary made a surprise stop at an Adele concert last night and got an endorsement from the singer who said that although she cannot vote here, the American election affects the world.  She urged her fans to vote for Hillary.

In Lake Worth, Clinton Vows to Keep Fighting for Kids and Families As President, Calls Trump Unfit for the Presidency

At a rally in Lake Worth on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton committed to continue the cause of her life of fighting for kids and families if elected president. Clinton also called out Donald Trump for his unprecedented and unacceptable remarks, most egregiously refusing to commit to accept the results of the election.

Trump’s shoddy business record should also be a concern for voters on the day he is opening his new DC hotel, Clinton said. Trump’s business career left in its wake multiple bankruptcies, hundreds of small businesses whom he refused to pay and a near $1 billion loss in one year alone, Clinton said. He’s been hypocritical in his business practices, Clinton added, saying, “We know he’s used undocumented workers, and that’s one of the things that he has run his campaign on, about deporting undocumented workers. Well, he’s used undocumented workers. He’s made his products in foreign countries. He’s used Chinese steel instead of American steel. So you can talk a good game, but let’s look at the facts. And the facts show he has stiffed American workers. He has stiffed American businesses.”

Clinton also called on Floridians to elect Patrick Murphy to the U.S. Senate, where he will be an ally to Hillary Clinton in building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Murphy will also help fight climate change, pass comprehensive immigration reform and stand up to the gun lobby, Clinton said.

Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:

“It’s great to be here in Lake Worth and – Wow. I – Wow, thank you. Wow, it is great to be here and I want to thank Tricia for being an operating room nurse and being a volunteer in this campaign, and I want to thank all the volunteers, everyone who has helped reach out to voters. I want to thank my friend of many years, your senator, Bill Nelson, for being here – Congresswoman Lois Frankel, Congressman Ted Deutch, all the elected officials, but especially all of you.

There are only 13 days left in this important election. And I have to tell you, it is so clear how high the stakes are. And I am going to work as hard as I can over these next 13 days reaching out to as many people as possible. We can’t take our foot off the gas even for a short time. Every vote counts; just ask my friend former Vice President Al Gore. And Lake Worth can make the difference, Florida can make the difference, and if people get out and vote, we will have a victory on November the 8th. Also in the crowd is Randy Parker [sic]. Randy, raise your hand. And I hope you will send Randy to Congress. And thank you so much for singing to me. Oh, I love your signs. That’s great. Vote early, Florida. That’s great.

I hope that one of the best gifts that you can give yourselves would be sending Patrick Murphy to the United States Senate. He’s exactly the kind of senator that Florida deserves. He’ll be an independent voice speaking out and working on your behalf. He’s a proven problem-solver. He’s fought for comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. He has defended Planned Parenthood and a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. He’s brought Democrats and Republicans together to protect our environment and fund Everglades Restoration.

That’s what we need. We need somebody who will help to break the gridlock, to stand up and help create more good jobs with rising wages. Stand up to the gun lobby and advocate for commonsense gun safety reforms. And help in the fight against climate change to protect the future of Florida. He will also defend and strengthen Social Security and Medicare. Everyone who works hard during your lifetime should be able to retire with dignity, and the benefits that you have earned should not be cut or privatized. And remember this, unlike his opponent, Patrick Murphy has not been afraid to stand up to Donald Trump and his dangerous, divisive campaign.

Now, did anybody see the last debate?

AUDIENCE: “Yes.” HILLARY CLINTON: “I stood next to Donald Trump for four and a half hours in those three debates, proving, I think once and for all, I have the stamina to be president. And no matter what he did, no matter what he said, no matter how he stalked me and lurked over me – I just kept thinking about what Michelle Obama said: When he goes low, we go high. And boy, has he gone low, right? But among the many things that he has said which are deeply troubling and disturbing, he said something truly horrifying in that last debate. He said that he would not necessarily respect the results of the election. He actually refused to say that he would when asked directly. Now, you got to understand, as I was standing here, nobody – nobody – Republican, Democrat – nobody who’s ever run for president has ever said that before. And so I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised. This is the guy who said the Emmys were rigged against him when his TV show didn’t win.

But this is serious, and it’s the reason I’ve been bringing it up at all my stops here in Florida, partly because I was horrified by it, but also because think about this. When you are sworn in as president, you take an oath. You take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. And listening to Donald Trump’s campaign, I truly doubt that he has ever read the Constitution. Or if he did back in school, he certainly doesn’t remember it and he doesn’t understand it is the most important founding document for the longest-lasting, greatest democracy in the history of the world. In America, we don’t say we’re going to keep you in suspense about whether we’ll respect the outcome of an election; we have free and fair elections and a peaceful transfer of power. That is one of the things that makes America who we are. And we fool around with that and we criticize that at our peril.

As your Secretary of State, I went to 112 countries and a lot of those countries – a lot of those countries are ones that are not democracies or they’re only pretend democracies. They actually have authoritarian leaders or dictators. And yeah, you know what? They rig their elections. Somebody running gets 99.9 percent of the vote. We’ve seen this. We know what that means. And some of you, either yourselves or your parents or your grandparents, came from places where that went on. And we can never tolerate anyone running to be president of the United States who undermines and questions our fundamental democratic values.

Now, we know he has spent his entire campaign attacking one group of Americans after another. He’s attacked immigrants. He’s attacked African Americans and Latinos and POWs and Muslims and people with disabilities. And, boy, has he attacked women. But now his final target is democracy itself. And we have faced challenges to our democracy before, and we’ve got to keep working until we have a more perfect union.

And our very first president understood that. I mean, George Washington refused to become a king. Folks were saying, ‘Hey, this president thing is okay, but maybe we should have a king.’ Well, we had a revolution to get out from under one king. And George Washington was wise enough to say, ‘No. I’m going home. We need to have the peaceful transfer of power.’

One person can’t act like they’re in charge of everything in America. That’s not who we are. We disagree in case you haven’t noticed. But then we come together. And we roll up our sleeves, and we get things done. And I so admire George Washington for many things, but for that decision, it was one of the most important decisions in our history. Now, I’m sure Donald Trump would probably have called him a loser because he voluntarily gave up power so that we could have elections that would choose our leaders.

But here’s the good news – and there is a lot of good news. Sometimes when you listen to Donald Trump and the Trump world he lives in, it can get a little disturbing, dark, dangerous, and divisive. I don’t recognize the America he describes. There are a lot of problems we’ve got, and we’re going to have to address them. And I intend to do that. But at the very moment that Donald Trump was making this unprecedented attack on our democracy, we have had millions and millions of people registering to vote, voting early, and volunteering. In fact, this is really exciting to me. We have reached a milestone. More than 200 million Americans are registered to vote, the biggest number we have ever had in our history. And, maybe most exciting, more than 50 million of them are young voters. After all, this election is more important to young people than anybody else. And to have you register and then turn out and vote is absolutely terrific.

And you know what else? Listen to this. More than 10 million people have already voted in this election and 2 million of them right here in Florida. So Florida has already cast 20 percent of the votes that have been already in the ballot box.

Now, I’ve got to tell you I’ve heard some really inspiring stories. I’ll just tell you one. Steven from St. Augustine has been fighting a rare form of leukemia and heart disease. He’s been in and out of the hospital a dozen times in the last two years. But he told his family, he told his friends, he told the nurses and the people in the hospital how important it was that he get a chance to vote. So I heard yesterday he ditched his oxygen tank, which I would not have recommended. He clung to his walker. He stood in line. And he cast his vote for a better America. Don’t let anybody tell you they don’t have time to vote in this election with somebody like Steven making that enormous effort.

And you only see numbers like this when people are motivated to stand up for what they really believe in. And I really believe Americans are coming together at the end of this election and not just Democrats but Republicans and Independents. And I want to thank all of the Republicans and the Independents who are here today, who are part of making our country better for everyone.

And you know what? This is not just about what we’re against. It’s about what we’re for. We have a lot of things to be for. It’s about a common vision we share of a hopeful, dynamic, unified America, where everyone counts and everyone has a place. So I really believe it may be my name on the ballot, but it really is about all of you. Every issue you care about, every concern you have about our country or the world, just imagine that being on this ballot. It really does come down to who we are as a country.

The future of the economy is on the ballot. I believe when the middle class thrives, America thrives. And I have said this for many years. I believe this so strongly because I come from a middle class family. My father was a small businessman. His father was a factory worker. That’s how it’s supposed to work in America. People work hard. They provide for their families. And people keep moving forward.

That’s what I want for everyone. I want every single person here to have your chance at the American dream. And the American dream is big enough for everybody. It’s not exclusive to any one group of people. We’re going to make the biggest investment in good new jobs since World War II: jobs in infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, small business, and clean energy. We’re going to make American the clean energy superpower. It’s either going to be China, Germany, or us. I want it to be us. And I’m going to do everything I can to make that come true. We can create millions of new good jobs and protect our planet.

And here in Florida, you are already seeing the results of climate change. Down in Miami, even on sunny days, without a drop of rain, the streets are flooding because the ocean is rising. Most of the scientists said that we’re going to have more tropical storms and hurricanes and they’re going to be more intense because the oceans are warming. People call 311 because they assume a water main has broken when it’s actually the sea rising around them.

This is a big deal for Florida. And I regret to tell you that Florida is behind in dealing with this challenge. Unfortunately, you’ve got a governor who has directed his state government never to say the words or write the words ‘climate change.’ And the big insurance companies are looking at this and they’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re really going to have to raise rates in Florida. Because the weather predictions – climate change reality is happening.’ And you are the Sunshine State. And what really makes me sad is that you have less PelamisWave solar power in Florida than New Jersey or Massachusetts. Right? They’re not exactly known as the sunshine states. There’s a lot of great things about those states, but think about the jobs that can be created, as well as contributing to what we need to do together to save our country and the world.

Now, I also believe strongly that we ought to – we’ve got to make it possible for everybody to get an education that’s going to give them the skills to be competitive in the new economy. I believe all our kids deserve universal prekindergarten so they can be ready to go to school. They deserve good schools with good teachers, regardless of where they live. And you especially deserve to have college affordable enough that you can go and graduate. I worked after our primary – and I was very proud of the primary that Senator Sanders and I ran, because it was about ideas, not insults. And we had disagreements, but they were disagreements about what’s the best way to achieve a goal, and we agreed, after it was over, on a plan to make public colleges and universities like Palm Beach State College tuition free – for any families making less than $125,000 a year, which is the vast majority of American families, and if you’re over that, it will be debt-free. So you pay what you can afford but not go into debt, because we should be making investments in your education.

And no matter where you go to college, or where you went, we’re going to make it easier for you to refinance and pay back your student debt. And then there’s something else I want to add, because I don’t think we talk enough about this. A four year degree should not be the only path to a good job and a middle-class life, right? Let’s bring back technical education in high schools, so that more young people get the skills that will make them employable. Let’s invest in more high-quality apprenticeships and training programs, so when you go to the polls, support not just teachers and educators, support yourselves and your families for the kind of future you deserve to have. And I also think the economy has to be fairer. What does that mean? Well, we’ve got to raise the national minimum wage, because no one who works full-time should still be in poverty. I was raised to believe in hard work, and I believe in it. And I don’t think there are any shortcuts. People need to work. But when you work full time, you shouldn’t still be in poverty, worried about whether you can put food on the table for yourself and your kids. And don’t you think it’s finally time for businesses that make profits to do more to share those profits with the employees who helped to make the profits in the first place?

You know, I love having the support of real billionaires. And they’ve been speaking out, because Donald gives a bad name to billionaires. Warren Buffett says, ‘Raise my taxes. It’s wrong I’m paying a lower tax rate that my secretary pays.’ That is wrong. He knows it. Mark Cuban says every time he’s sold a company, he has shared the profits with his employees, making 300 millionaires, from security guards all the way up to executives. Mike Bloomberg says he knows a con artist when he sees one. So we can do better. We’re going to raise taxes on the wealthy, because they’ve gotten most of the gains from the economy.

And I don’t think it’s right that Donald Trump, a guy who claims he’s worth $10 billion, should have paid zero in federal incomes taxes for 20 years. He paid less taxes than probably everybody else here. Everyone here. Right? And at some point you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘What is so smart, as he claimed to be, about losing a billion dollars in a year?’ I don’t think that’s very smart. And what really is kind of weird about it is, he lost a billion dollars running casinos. Who loses any money running casinos, has been the question I have. So we’re going to get the tax system working or everybody. And don’t you think it is finally time to say, absolutely no tax increases on the middle class, because you haven’t had the benefits that you should have had, with rising wages? And so I’m adopting the same policy that President Obama had, really the policy my husband started with. No one who makes $250,000 or less, you will not see your federal taxes raised, period.

I get always a little amused when I hear people talking the way that Donald talks, about slashing taxes, trillions of dollars of taxes for the wealthy. That’s the same old trickle-down economics, only he of course wants it to be huger than anybody else’s trickle-down economics. Huge. Well, the fact is, it hasn’t worked. It hasn’t worked. We created more jobs when my husband was President, 23 million new jobs. And we’ve now created 15 million new jobs under  Barack Obama. That is more than was created under trickle-down economics. So I feel strongly that we can’t go backward, because we need to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.

Now, don’t you also think it’s also time for women to get equal pay for the work we do? And, this is not a women’s issue alone. If you’ve got a mother, or a wife, or a daughter, or a sister, you want her to have equal pay, don’t you? I mean, otherwise your family is being cheated. And you know where else it hurts? If women are not paid equally. And we’ve got some great examples of that around the country. It hurts them when they go on Social Security.

Lilly Ledbetter, the woman you may have heard of, worked in a factory in Alabama. And she worked her way up until she was one of the managers on the floor. She was the only woman. She worked really hard. And then it was years later she was like in a break room or somewhere and she overheard a conversation about what some of her co-managers were going to be spending money on. And she was thinking, now, how can they afford that? And so she went and talked to them, and they told her how much money they made. And she was paid 40 percent less. So what did that mean to her? Well, her husband, who also worked really hard, it meant that they were kind of cheated. And then her husband died. She’s a widow. And how her Social Security is 40 percent less because she didn’t put in enough to get the higher payments.

So don’t let anybody tell you this is a woman’s issue. And when Donald Trump attacks me, says I’m playing the woman’s card, you know what? If standing up for equal pay is playing the woman’s card, then deal me in!

So, my friends, we have a lot to do, and it’s going to be exciting. I’m very optimistic about what we’re going to do together. And I look at this election, and I really do see two very different visions about our country. And I want us to choose a path that is confident and optimistic because I really believe America’s best days are still ahead of us. And I think part of what we have to do is us be clear about the stark difference between our campaign and my opponent’s campaign.

Today he’s in Washington, D.C. to open a new luxury hotel. And really, while the hotel may be new, it’s the same old story because once again – and I want you to hear this because this is really important – if you have friends who are thinking of voting for Trump, I want you to tell them that he relied on undocumented workers to make his project cheaper. And most of the products in the rooms were made overseas. And he even sued to get his taxes lowered.

But we know he’s used undocumented workers, and that’s one of the things that he has run his campaign on, about deporting undocumented workers. Well, he’s used undocumented workers. He’s made his products in foreign countries. He’s used Chinese steel instead of American steel. So you can talk a good game, but let’s look at the facts. And the facts show he has stiffed American workers. He has stiffed American businesses. And later today, I’m going to be with celebrity chef José Andrés, who had the courage to stand up to Trump about his divisive anti-immigrant views by refusing to put his restaurant in Trump’s hotel.

And I also – two more things. I couldn’t believe that Trump started tweeting about how the battle for Mosul was already ‘a total disaster,’ and that our country was ‘looking so dumb,’ basically declaring defeat before the battle had even started. Honestly, this is someone who says he knows more about ISIS than our generals. He is not just wrong, he’s dangerously wrong. And the message that is being sent to our American soldiers who are over there advising and helping this action to drive the terrorists out – imagine what they are hearing from someone who claims he wants to be the next commander-in-chief?

Well, my friends, I have a different view, and I want your help. Our bottom line is we need to work for the next 13 days. And here in Florida, voting could not be easier. Please, you can go early vote through Sunday, November 6. Go to any early voting site in your county. You can go between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to cast your ballot. In fact, you can go right after this rally to the Lantana Road Branch Library just three miles away. And you can go to iwillvote.com to confirm your polling place. Make sure you have a plan to vote. Make sure you bring everybody to vote. Volunteer these last two weeks. Help us make calls and knock on doors. Go to hillaryclinton.com to sign up, or take out your phones and text ‘j-o-i-n’; to 47246.

So on January 20th, we’re going to have a new president. Right? So things are going to change no matter what. The real question is, what kind of change are we going to have? And I don’t think most Americans want the dark and divisive change that Donald is offering – mass deportations to rip apart families. A repeal of gun-free school zones on day one. Going back to the days when insurance companies could discriminate against everybody, not just people on the Affordable Care Act exchanges but every one of us, 170 million of us, who get insurance from our employers. Going back to letting Wall Street write its own rules. Denying the science of climate change. Rolling back marriage equality. Reversing a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. The biggest tax breaks ever for those at the top. And then a broad ripping up our alliances and allowing more countries to get nuclear weapons.

Well, that’s change, all right. But that is not the change we need. We need a country where every student can afford to go to college, where millions of people are working in good, high-paying jobs, where immigrants come out of the shadows and pay taxes and – listen to this – a half of all undocumented immigrants pay federal income taxes, which means they pay more federal income taxes than Donald Trump has paid for 20 years! And we need a country respected in the world, working with our allies to defeat terrorism and to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Well, my friends, change is coming. But the choice is yours as to what kind of country we want to be. We need a fairer, stronger America. If you will work with me, if you will vote between now and the time the polls close on November 8, we will make the kind of future that we need for ourselves, our kids, and our grandkids. And we will prove once and for all that love trumps hate! Thank you!”

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The best birthday present you can give Hillary today is a donation.  She is working hard to tip the scales in Florida and other battleground states, not just for her White House bid, but for House and Senate seats and local tickets.

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Today is Hillary’s birthday!  Make it extra-special with a donation!

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This is it.  Two weeks from right now some east coast polls will have closed, and we will be so close to knowing the results.  Here is a list of the last round of fundraisers all across the country.  Remember two things: 1) No matter what the scientific polls say, the election itself wipes out all predictions. The election is the only poll that counts! This is no time for complacency. 2) Hillary is campaigning not only for herself but also for down-ticket Dems.  Much of the funding is targeting seats we can win!  Let’s DO this!  Stand with Hillary and the Democrats!

Schedule of Upcoming Events

Wednesday, October 26
Conversation with Anne Holton and Maggie Fox

Boulder, Colorado

Wednesday, October 26
Voting Rights Advocates for Hillary conversation with Congressman John Lewis

New York City

Wednesday, October 26
Evening With Tom Donilon

Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, October 26
Conversation with Ann O’Leary and Bishop Garrison, Deputy Foreign Policy Advisor

Washington, D.C.

Thursday, October 27
New Mexico for Hillary Conversation with Anne Holton

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Thursday, October 27
Conversation with Chelsea and Ann O’Leary

Washington, D.C.

Thursday, October 27
Performance by James Taylor with special guest Senator Elizabeth Warren

Boston, Massachusetts

Thursday, October 27
Evening with the Cast of Will & Grace featuring Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally

Los Angeles, California

Thursday, October 27
Lunch with Senator Cory Booker

Madison, Wisconsin

Thursday, October 27
Conversation and Lunch with Diane von Furstenberg

Los Angeles, California

Thursday, October 27
Together for America conversation with Hank Paulson, Former United States Secretary of the Treasury and Ruth Porat

Palo Alto, California

Thursday, October 27
Alaska for Hillary evening with Senator Maria Cantwell

Anchorage, Alaska

Friday, October 28
Evening With Cher

Dallas, Texas

Friday, October 28
Together for America conversation with Meg Whitman

Atlanta, Georgia

Friday, October 28
Happy Hour with Chris Sacca

Austin, Texas

Friday, October 28
Dinner with Chris Sacca

Austin, Texas

Friday, October 28
Evening with Martin O’Malley

Studio City, California

Sunday, October 30
Evening of Karaoke for Hillary with Dennis Cheng and Mike Taylor

New York City

Sunday, October 30
Conversation with Michèle Flournoy, Former Under Secretary of Defense

Westlake, Ohio

Monday, October 31
Celebration with Cher

Chicago, Illinois

Monday, October 31
Halloween with Cher

Detroit Area, Michigan

Monday, October 31
Conversation with Jake Sullivan, Senior Policy Advisor

Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, November 1
Morning with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Syracuse, New York

Tuesday, November 1
Afternoon with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Rochester, New York

Tuesday, November 1
Evening with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul

Buffalo, New York

Tuesday, November 1
Reception with Diane von Furstenberg

Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday, November 1
Final Cooking with Podesta event with Mario Batali and John Podesta

New York City

Tuesday, November 1
Conversation with Neera Tanden

New York City

Tuesday, November 1
Evening with Heather Boushey

Washington, D.C.

Thursday, November 3
Evening with Huma Abedin, Diane von Furstenberg, and Anna Wintour

Washington, D.C.

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Thank you for all the August donations via this page!  We only have two months to go, and every day it becomes ever clearer why we can take nothing for granted and must keep up the fight right to the end.  We did very well in August.

Hillary Clinton Raised More than $140 Million in August for HFA and the Democratic Party

Hillary Clinton had her best fundraising month of the campaign in August, bringing in about $143 million for Hillary for America (HFA)  and the Democratic Party. HFA, along with the Hillary Victory Fund (HVF) and Hillary Action Fund (HAF) began September with a combined $152 million in the bank. More than 2.3 million people have now donated to HFA and the average donation to the campaign in August was about $50.

“Thanks to the 2.3 million people who have contributed to our campaign, we are heading into the final two months of the race with the resources we need to organize and mobilize millions of voters across the country,” said Hillary for America Campaign Manager Robby Mook. ”Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric continues to drive voters away from him and the Republican Party and has created new opportunities for Democrats up and down the ticket. These resources will help us to register and turnout millions of voters to elect progressive candidates across the country.”

About $62 million of the total raised was for Hillary for America while about $81 million was raised for the DNC and state parties across the country through the Hillary Victory Fund and the Hillary Action Fund.

HFA began September with more than $68 million on hand, while HVF and HAF had a combined $84 million.

For all the generous donations, here is a note from Hillary.  09-01-16

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After morning props from former C.I.A. Director Michael J. Morrell and an appearance before Black and Hispanic journalists, Hillary headed off to a fundraiser in Washington, DC today.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves as she leaves a Hillary Victory Fund finance event at the Whittemore House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Hillary Victory Fund is a joint fundraising committee that benefits both her campaign and an array of downticket Democrats.

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