In a major step to woo the disgruntled progressive wing within the Democratic Party, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Monday displayed an unusual and powerful alliance with liberal superstar Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The first joint appearance on campaign trail between Clinton and Warren in Cincinnati, Ohio came after Warren broke the year-long silence and announced early this month her endorsement of Clinton.
For Clinton, it was better late than never.
"I'm here today because I'm with her. Yes, her," proclaimed Warren at a rally event in Cincinnati. "We're all here today because we're with her and we're going to work our hearts out to make Hillary Clinton the next President of the United States."
For Nicole Kurtz, she drove from the neighboring Kentucky to join some 2,600 people at Cincinnati Museum Center to see Warren, not Clinton.
"Yes, I'm here for her, Elizabeth, not Clinton," said Kurtz, a 37 year-old single mother with two children. "I'm still a proud supporter of Bernie, and I don't think I'll be voting for Clinton without a qualm. She's part of the establishment."
Despite the all but unanimous support from party leaders, Clinton was still scrambling to win over backers of her rival in the primary season Bernie Sanders, a self-claimed democratic socialist senator from Vermont who mounted surprisingly serious challenges against her.
According to a new Bloomberg Politics poll released on June 14, nearly half of Sanders' supporters wouldn't back Clinton. In addition, more than one in five of Sanders' backers said they would vote for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
But an endorsement from Warren would definitely pull back some Sanders' supporters, Kurtz admitted.
Echoing the populist note during the primary season, in which Bernie Sanders, a self-claimed democratic socialist senator from Vermont, mounted surprisingly serious challenges against Clinton, Warren acknowledged on Monday that opportunities for ordinary people in the country "are slipping away."
"A lot of Americans are worried and angry. Angry that too many times Washington works for those at the top and leaves everyone else behind," said Warren.
"That Washington gives corporations fat tax breaks for CEO bonuses, but won't raise the minimum wage. That Washington pushes big corporate interests in trade deals, but won't make the investments in infrastructure that create good jobs here in America."
Clinton fights for ordinary Americans, said Warren with gusto.
If nothing else, the surging of Sanders' outsider campaign in the past year made Clinton shift noticeably to the left, rejecting not only the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal but the Keystone XL oil pipeline project, both of which were opposed by the Democratic progressive wing.
To culminate her embrace of the prevailing populism after a bruising primary season, Clinton on Monday touted her progressive economy vision for the United States in one of the crucial battleground states with nod of approval from Warren. And her attacks against the Wall Street, with which she had established close ties, stood out from other part of the plan.
"Let's set the goal of making sure that Wall Street and the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes," said Clinton.
"No millionaire should pay a lower tax rate than somebody working for him, like his secretary. The people who have profited the most, even since the Great Recession, are people who now need to give back. This country has given so much to all of us, and everybody should share the burden." (Xinhua)
