Clinton aims fire at Republicans, not fellow Democrats

Hillary Clinton spent much of her Jefferson Jackson dinner speech ripping Republicans, but didn’t criticize her Democratic opponents.

“When we Democrats debate, you see something. You see us tackling the hard issues, looking for solutions to our biggest challenges,” she said, listing climate change, jobs and the cost of college.

By contrast, she said, Republicans are touting ugly and outdated ideas and arguments.

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Clinton, her party’s leading presidential candidate, gave a smooth, polished presentation. While less fiery than that of her main rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, her speech drew strong applause from her thunderstick-thumping fans in the crowd.

FROM THE EVENT

QUOTE: “We can’t let Republicans keep rigging our elections with secret, unaccountable, dark money. We need a Supreme Court that protects the right of every citizen to vote, not the right of corporations to buy elections.”

BEST MOMENT: Clinton urged Democrats to defend progress made under President Barack Obama, such as the Affordable Care Act, from attacks by Republicans. “I sometimes wonder, when you sign up to be a Republican candidate for president, they put you in some kind of time machine. And they take you back 50, 70, 100 years. Because they keep saying the same out-of-date, out-of-touch things. We will never let the Republicans cut or privatize Social Security or end Medicare.”

AUDIENCE REACTION: Clinton’s speech drew cheers and applause from the big contingent of her fans in the audience. They chanted “I’m with her, I’m with her” at several points. One of her top applause lines was when she criticized Gov. Terry Branstad for his closures of mental hospitals, vetoes of school money and plan to privatize Iowa’s Medicaid program. Her speech drew little audible reaction from the section of the audience filled with Sanders fans.