In Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton goes after Scott Walker
MILWAUKEE -- Hillary Clinton won over a fired up crowd here Thursday night with her harshest attack lines yet against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
"It seems to me, just observing him, that Governor Walker thinks because he busts unions, starves universities, guts public education, demeans women, scapegoats teachers, nurses and firefighters, he's some kind of tough guy on his motorcycle," she said, at moments drowned out by the crowd's cheers and applause. "That is not leadership, folks."
Clinton was speaking at her first event in Wisconsin of this cycle, an organizing event inside the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's student union. According to school officials, 1,800 people attended the event in the ballroom where Clinton spoke and in two overflow spaces.
The event was part of Clinton's rollout of "Women for Hillary," an initiative which highlights Clinton's career working on behalf of women, children and families. Clinton regularly draws contrast between herself and her rivals on the Republican side of the race, recently adding lines about Ben Carson and Rand Paul, but on Thursday, she zeroed in on Walker.
"Governor Walker has made it his personal mission to roll back women's health and rights," she said. "Maybe he doesn't realize when women are shortchanged, entire families are shortchanged and Wisconsin and America are shortchanged."
In response, Walker tweeted at Clinton, attaching a photo of him riding his Harley Davidson:
.@HillaryClinton your affinity for flying private jets on taxpayers dime is well known. I for one prefer this ride-SW pic.twitter.com/F9wQKxmQE3
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) September 10, 2015
Clinton's focus on Republican candidates for president continues as new polls in Iowa and New Hampshire show her in an ever-tightening race for the Democratic nomination with Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont.
A new Quinnipiac poll released Thursday showed that Sanders has particularly strong support among young Democrats in Iowa. Sixty-seven percent said they'd vote for Sanders, while 29 percent said they would vote for Clinton.
Sanders, in an interview on CNN Thursday afternoon, said he was "stunned" to see the progress his campaign has made in a short time. Sanders, who visited Madison, Wisconsin in July, drew 10,000 people out to hear his populist message at a rally.
Alicia Barnes, a sophomore at UW-M studying education, said she likes and admires Clinton but that she's "leaning" toward Sanders mainly because of his proposals to make public college and universities tuition-free. She didn't expect to like Sanders.
"Just seeing him, no, because he looks kind of crazy," she said, "but after looking into him I really like him."
But many of those in the crowd in Milwaukee were Clinton-faithful.
Wade Snowden, a freshman at UW-M who is studying nursing, said he believes Clinton is the only Democratic candidate who would be able to implement the policy ideas she presents on the campaign trail.
"I would vote for him because it's my civil duty to vote," he said, when asked if he would vote for Sanders if he became the nominee. "I would vote for him, but Hillary needs to win."