Clinton going after the white working-class vote
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POLLS opened yesterday in a Kentucky primary that could give Hillary Clinton a chance to bolster her almost insurmountable delegate lead over Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, who has vowed to slog on despite long odds.
Though Clinton holds a slim poll lead, Sanders was gunning for victory in the Bluegrass State, building on his win last week in neighboring West Virginia as he battles to keep his long-shot nomination bid alive.
West Virginia and Kentucky are linked to coal, as is much of Appalachia — the largely white, long-struggling eastern US region where many feel they have been given the cold shoulder in the lukewarm recovery from the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
The northwest state of Oregon was also holding its Democratic and Republican primaries, where limited polling has indicated Clinton is ahead. She sees Kentucky as an opportunity to appeal to working-class white men — a demographic where she has lagged behind both the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and her Democratic rival Sanders.
John Spenlau, 28, speaking to reporters outside a voting station in suburban Louisville, said he had voted for Sanders.
“To be honest I don’t think he’s going to win the nomination but I prefer the idea of continued change,” he said referring to Sanders’ proposals to upend what he calls an unfair political and economic system in the US and fight income inequality, among other problems.
No Democratic presidential candidate has won in Kentucky state since 1980 except for Bill Clinton.
On Sunday the former first lady appeared to indicate her husband would play a role in her administration if she were elected, promising to put him “in charge of revitalizing the economy.”
And during a stop on Monday at a diner in Paducah, a city in the state’s southwest, she reasserted that he would be her ally in office.
“I’ve already told my husband that if I’m so fortunate enough to be president and he will be the first gentleman, I’ll expect him to go to work ... to get incomes rising.”
Sanders has also been investing time in Kentucky. He was in Paducah on Sunday and Bowling Green on Monday, holding much bigger rallies — each attracting more than 2,000 people.
The Clintons have struggled to contain the damage from comments Hillary made in March, when she said she expected to “put a lot of coal companies and coal miners out of business.”
She made the remark during a speech on renewable energy but the soundbite stung many in Appalachia.
In Fort Mitchell at the weekend she emphasized her determination to help coal country, saying: “We can’t and we must not walk away from them.”
Clinton made three stops in Kentucky on Sunday and another four on Monday, shaking hands, taking selfies, offering hugs — and even chatting with Trump supporters who vowed never to vote for her.
With the Democratic nomination in sight, Clinton is repositioning herself for a bruising general election campaign battle against Trump.
In a November face-off, the billionaire appears destined to hold an advantage over Clinton, at least initially, with working-class whites.
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