Dan Nowicki

The Republic | azcentral.com

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner who has led in the polls in Arizona, on Monday fired up supporters in a packed high school gymnasium in west Phoenix in a final push to get out the vote before the state's Tuesday presidential primary.

Speaking to a capacity crowd of 1,355 at Carl Hayden Community High School, an energetic Clinton detailed audience-pleasing policy proposals related to economic growth, college affordability and, especially, immigration reform.

"We are a nation of immigrants and of exiles. When I see people like Sheriff (Joe) Arpaio and others who are treating fellow human beings with such disrespect, with such contempt, it just makes my heart sink," Clinton said, eliciting boos at the mention of the controversial Maricopa County sheriff. "We are better than that."

Arpaio, whose Sheriff's Office was found by a federal judge to have engaged in racial profiling, has come up often in the Democratic presidential battle in Arizona, having also been denounced by Bernie Sanders, the left-leaning U.S. senator from Vermont who is challenging Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

She also detailed her national-security experience as President Barack Obama's secretary of State and as a U.S. senator from New York during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Such experience will help her keep America safe, she said.

"Only the hard choices get to the president's desk," Clinton said. "Only the hard choices end up in the situation room. If it's easy, it gets made somewhere along that path.

"But when you are faced with making those tough decisions, like we were when I was one of the small group that advised the president about whether or not to go after (international terrorist leader Osama) bin Laden, it takes experience and it takes temperament."

Without mentioning by name Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Clinton lamented the tenor of the celebrity billionaire's campaign.

"It has been deeply distressing to me to see the divisiveness, the mean-spiritedness, the incitement of violence and aggressiveness in this campaign," she said. "I don't ever remember anything like it, to be honest with you. I just don't. Pitting groups of Americans against one another, it just is wrong. That's not who we are. That's not our values."

Clinton acknowledged some Americans are frustrated and angry. "But, you know what, folks? Anger is not a strategy," Clinton said.

Though Clinton arrived in Arizona as the favorite in Tuesday's primary, or presidential preference election, she is facing unexpectedly fierce competition from Sanders.

Sanders, who went zero for five in the March 15 primaries, is banking heavily on Arizona: He has television ads in heavy rotation and by Monday is expected to have held at least five campaign events across the state.

Bernie Sanders' last-minute drive to capture Arizona's Native American voters

The Clinton campaign likewise is taking the state seriously. Besides the candidate's appearance Monday at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, stumped Sunday on her behalf at Central High School in Phoenix. Her campaign also has dispatched a small army of campaign surrogates to spread her message across Arizona.

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, speaking in his personal capacity, addressed the crowd before Clinton's remarks.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Mark Kelly, her retired NASA astronaut husband, helped introduce Hillary Clinton at Monday's rally, as they did for Bill Clinton at Sunday's event.

Giffords, who nearly died in a Jan. 8, 2011, assassination attempt near Tucson, has made an inspiring recovery from the gunshot wound to the head that nearly killed her. In recent years, she and Kelly have emerged as high-profile national gun-control activists.

"You know what Congresswoman Gabby Giffords meant to this state," Clinton said. "You know what she did for her constituents and I am in awe of her courage and her commitment to continue to serve people by standing up and speaking out against the gun lobby in favor of (common-sense gun reforms)."

Gabrielle Giffords appearance brings Phoenix rally for Hillary Clinton to its feet

State Rep. Lela Alston, D-Phoenix, also spoke. She drew an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd when she predicted Hillary Clinton would "turn Arizona blue," just as Bill Clinton did in his 1996 re-election, when he became the only Democrat since President Harry Truman in 1948 to carry the state.

At Carl Hayden High, a school named for the long-serving Democratic U.S. Senate legend from Arizona, the gym was filled to capacity and a large overflow crowd was outside.

Sarah Boon, 24, who teaches special education in Tolleson, said most of her young friends are Bernie Sanders supporters. But Clinton’s combination of gender, experience and pragmatism won her vote.

“I think it is the coolest thing to have the opportunity to vote for a woman for president,” Boon said. “... And I think Hillary has a proven track record of being successful in politics and in Washington. So I think she’d be the best to represent us in the White House.”

Though Boon likes Sanders’ promise of free tuition at public universities, she doesn’t think it’s practical.

Mary Dee Camarena, 60, a retired Chandler teacher, said she has supported Clinton since she was first lady.

“She is very intelligent. She thinks things through. She’s a strong woman. She’s independent. She listens to others. And I like the way that she’s inclusive,” Camarena said. “But most of all I like the way she doesn’t give up.”

Camarena, who is Hispanic and whose father was an immigrant, said she also likes Clinton’s immigration policies.

“I used to work here at Carl Hayden High School. I worked with many ‘dreamers’ that were very intelligent and I want to make sure they have every opportunity,” she said. “I think (Clinton is) our best chance for all students, not just dreamers because she represents everybody.”

Is Arizona still Hillary Clinton country?

The Clinton event also attracted protesters. A small group of supporters of Trump demonstrated on the other side of Roosevelt Street. They held pro-Trump placards and signs with slogans such as "Hillary 4 Prison."

A least one anti-Trump demonstrator was on hand with a sign that read, "Trump is a Fascist."

Some Sanders fans also protested the rally. They carried signs with messages such as "Not With Her" and "Students Against Hypcri$y (sic)."

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Republic reporter Rebekah L. Sanders contributed to this article.