In wide-ranging speech, Bill Clinton aims to energize Black voters in Milwaukee
In a visit to Milwaukee Thursday evening, former President Bill Clinton made the case that Kamala Harris' plans for America would leave people better off than Donald Trump's policies would.
Clinton's speech was wide-ranging, from job growth and infrastructure funding under President Joe Biden, to gas and insulin prices, to mentions of former U.S. Sen. Joe McCarthy, who represented Wisconsin from 1947-57, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series win Wednesday.
Speaking to a few hundred mostly Black supporters, including pastors and members of local Black churches, the popular Democrat said his goal for the evening was to "explain things to people" rather than give a conventional stump speech. And especially as Black voters' enthusiasm for Harris has been uncertain, the hope was Clinton could energize the faith community to turn out to vote in a must-win swing state.
"The future of the country is on the line, and it may be decided in Wisconsin," Clinton told the crowd.
He said former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, was motivated by a desire for power and wanted to sow division in the country.
"Trump's goal is to keep you torn up and upset," said Clinton, who served as president from 1993 to 2001.
As an example, Clinton mentioned the question of whether transgender athletes should compete in the NCAA, which he said is the sports organization's decision and not Trump's, but still stirs up discontent and motivates people to vote for him.
"It won't create a single job, it won't resolve the border chaos, it won't do anything," Clinton said of the transgender athlete issue.
Clinton compares Harris, Trump policy plans
Clinton also struck an optimistic tone about the country's future, rattling off several statistics about the country's demographics and job growth. He mentioned new immigrants who start small businesses, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that will upgrade roads and bridges, and an increase in clean energy production like solar and wind power.
"This country has the best future prospects of any country on earth," he said.
He said the most important issue was that Trump proposed a 20% tariff on all imported goods to the U.S.
"Just to put an across-the-board tariff, with no resolution of how you're going to make a living and buy this stuff, is a terrible mistake," Clinton said.
Clinton said voters should consider three questions: Are people better off now than before, do children have a brighter future, and "are we coming together instead of tearing each other apart?"
The campaign stop is part of a tour of swing states for the 42nd president. Clinton was in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, and in Michigan on Wednesday. He visited Arizona last week and has also campaigned in Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina for Harris.
Supporters see apathy in some would-be voters
Once his roughly 30-minute speech at the Institute for the Preservation of African American Music and Arts ended, supporters hurried to the front of the room to take selfies with Clinton, who has remained a popular figure even two decades after his presidency ended.
Tarrazonia Green, 75, understands Clinton's appeal. She likes his charisma and considers him the "people's president."
"People surely do love and appreciate his leadership, what he brought to the table while he was in office, and even after that," she said.
Green is a longtime Democrat who grew up in a family of Democrats. She says she's a fan of Harris and worries about a lack of turnout from younger people who may be uninterested in the political process and misinformed about the issues. And she's incredulous that one of her younger relatives is considering voting for Trump.
Larry Johnson, 74, a retired Teamster, is also trying to combat apathy for Harris. He says he hears from friends and men at the barber shop that they won't vote for Harris because they don't know anything about her.
"I said, 'Well, we know she's not a convicted felon,'" Johnson said.
He felt so strongly that people should vote for Harris that he spent $1,300 to put up a billboard at North 47th Street and West Silver Spring Drive. It reads, "Vote Kamala Harris. She has the best plan for this great land. With her America stands."
The Democratic Party’s confidence in the support of young Black men in particular has wavered as some Black residents doubt Harris will deliver on her economic promises. And enthusiasm is down. In majority Black wards in Milwaukee, turnout has been declining in recent elections, including 58% turnout in 2016 and 51% in 2020, compared with nearly 79% in 2012.
The latest Paste BN/Suffolk University Poll finds that Harris has lost ground nationally among Black voters over the seven weeks between the two polls. They favor Harris 72% to 17%, a 55-point advantage that is well below where Democrats traditionally fare.
Harris and her surrogates, including former President Barack Obama, have been working since then to revive that support.
The culture and events center where Clinton spoke is affiliated with Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ, founded by the prominent Bishop Sedgewick Daniels, who died last year.
Daniels, who considered himself an independent, wielded significant political influence, and his church was a popular place for politicians to visit. He supported both Clinton and former President George W. Bush and even served as a delegate for the 2004 Republican National Convention.