Clinton: Reject Trump’s ‘dark and divisive vision’

Allendale — The presidential election is a contest between unity and division, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said Monday, making her closing case to voters in west Michigan by asking them to reject Republican Donald Trump’s “dark and divisive vision” for America.

“The choice in this election could not be clearer,” Clinton said to a capacity crowd of 4,600 at the Grand Valley State University field house in Allendale.

“It’s between strong and steady leaders and loose cannons who could put everything at risk,” she said. “It’s between an economy that can work for everyone and one that is even more stacked for those at the top.”

The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state opened her speech by saying she was “privileged” to know the late former President Gerald R. Ford, a west Michigan Republican whom she met while interning for the House GOP conference in college.

Clinton said she’s known a lot of presidents, and even when she didn’t agree with them on policy or principal, “I never doubted that they were fit to serve as commander in chief.

“That’s what makes this election so different,” she said, arguing that Trump is not fit to serve. “That’s why so many Republicans have spoken out to endorse me and support me.”

Ford also got to know Clinton as first lady and found her more strong-willed than her husband, President Bill Clinton, the late president told journalist Thomas DeFrank, author of “Write It When I’m Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford.”

Ford predicted in 2002 that Clinton would run on a presidential ticket, DeFrank wrote, but the former president said at the time that he did not think “the country is ready for a lady president.”

Clinton’s afternoon rally was her first of the cycle in west Michigan, a traditional Republican stronghold where GOP rival Donald Trump was also expected Monday for a late-night rally at the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, an increasingly liberal pocket in the conservative region.

Neither candidate performed particularly well in west Michigan in the state’s March 8 party primaries. Trump finished third to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in vote-rich Kent and Ottawa counties. Clinton lost both by wide margins to Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

With public opinion polls showing a tightening race, Michigan has become a central focus for both campaigns before Tuesday’s election, as Clinton seeks to protect a key brick in her electoral “firewall” and hold off Trump in a state that a Republican has not won since 1988.

“This part of the state is going to be critical to make sure we have a madam president on Nov. 9,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon, a former state legislator from Grand Rapids. “Let’s go out tomorrow and show them this is a blue state, this is a blue region and we are blue citizens.”

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, warmed up the crowd for Clinton, calling the former secretary of state a champion for women’s rights and human rights while knocking Trump for selling branded products built overseas.

“The only change Donald Trump cares about is the change in his own pocket,” she said.

President Barack Obama stumped for Clinton earlier Monday in Ann Arbor. Republican vice presidential hopeful Mike Pence campaigned for Trump in Traverse City, while daughters Ivanka and Tiffany were in Hudsonville. Pence and Ivanka were both expected to join Trump at his 11 p.m. rally in Grand Rapids.

Clinton touted her proposals to boost federal infrastructure spending, invest in and subsidize renewable energy jobs, raise the minimum wage and provide free in-state college tuition for students of families who earn less than $125,000 a year.

She vowed she would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year and promised to cut taxes for small businesses.

“We’re going to go where the money is — to the millionaires and the billionaires and the big corporations,” Clinton said of her tax plans.

Clinton did not reference Sunday’s reprieve from FBI Director James Comey, who said the agency still believes Clinton should not face criminal charges for her use of a private email server while secretary of state. The agency reviewed new emails it believed pertinent to its probe of whether Clinton put classified materials at risk.

Michigan Republican Party Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel on Monday accused the Clinton campaign of “consistently violating the rules,” pointing to the WikiLeaks publication of hacked internal emails suggesting a former CNN contributor shared questions ahead of nationally televised debates and town halls during the Democratic primaries.

“The Clintons have lived by a different set of rules for too long, and now is the time to hold them accountable,” Romney McDaniel said in a statement. “Michigan voters will send a message tomorrow that they’re tired of the corruption coming from Hillary Clinton and that they want better from their next President.”

Thousands of students and other supporters lined up outside the university field house ahead of Clinton’s rally. Jennifer Dunahee of Comstock Park, 40, brought along her 12-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, who carried a sign declaring, “I’m a girl. What’s your super power?”

Dunahee said it is important to her that Clinton could become the first female president in the history of the nation.

“I think we’re due, and I think she’s the perfect woman to be our first,” Dunahee said. “She’s above and beyond qualified, and I think she’s going to take everything that Obama’s accomplished and continue that forward.”

The historic implications of Clinton’s candidacy also impress Darius Dixon, a freshman student who said he grew up with a single mother in Chicago but will vote in Michigan.

“She said if she wins she’ll fight for equal pay for women and men,” said Dixon, 18. “I only know my mother, not my father, and if that happens, it would actually help my family”

Meredith Miller, a fifth-year student with a double major in statistics and gender studies, said she appreciates Clinton’s proposal college tuition proposal and her focus on early childhood education.

“I love that she represents everyone,” said Miller, 22. “She wants a better country for all of us, no matter your race, gender, class, education or anything else.”

A small crowd of Trump fans also gathered outside the field house, promoting their candidate ahead of the Clinton visit.

Tucker Haske, a senior who is majoring in hospitality and tourism management, organized the protest and brought with him a large Trump sign he said he usually hangs over his bed. He likes that Trump does not have political experience.

“When you look at the way our country’s been run the last 30 years, it’s a trend downhill, whether it’s been a Republican or a Democrat in office,” said Haske, 21.

“I just think if we don’t change something, it’s just going to get worse and worse. And how do you change anything if you just elect politicians who keep doing the same thing.”

joosting@detroitnews.com