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Hillary Clinton stands with senator Jeanne Shaheen after the fellow Democrat endorsed Clinton at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday.
Hillary Clinton stands with senator Jeanne Shaheen after the fellow Democrat endorsed Clinton at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Hillary Clinton stands with senator Jeanne Shaheen after the fellow Democrat endorsed Clinton at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Saturday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Hillary Clinton takes aim at rivals but has no qualms about playing gender card

This article is more than 8 years old

Democratic frontrunner sets agenda and has choice words for Trump as supporters gather in New Hampshire at ‘Women for Hillary’ event

Twenty years to the day since her iconic address on women’s rights in a suburb of Beijing, Hillary Clinton delivered a stirring speech on gender issues in America while casting her Republican rivals as decidedly anti-women.

And for those who might accuse her of playing the gender card, Clinton repeated a simple message: “Deal me in.”

Clinton spoke before more than a thousand supporters on Saturday at a launch event for “Women for Hillary” in New Hampshire, touching upon many of the familiar themes of her presidential campaign – equal pay for women, paid family leave, raising the minimum wage.

But in a sign that her eyes are squarely focused on the general election amid an increasingly competitive primary, the Democratic frontrunner served up some of her most scathing criticism yet of her Republican presidential rivals.

And while Clinton went after a range of candidates – from the surging outsider Ben Carson to the establishment-backed Jeb Bush – her toughest jabs were reserved for real estate mogul Donald Trump, the current frontrunner.

Donald Trump on ‘cherishing’ women Guardian

Referring to Trump’s recent defense of his attitude toward women, in which the Republican frontrunner said he ‘cherishes’ them, Clinton shot back: “If it’s all the same to you, Mr. Trump, I’d rather you stopped cherishing women and started respecting them.”

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers.

Much of Clinton’s speech centered on her agenda for the middle class. The need to raise income, she said, was “the defining issue of our time.” Issues that hit average households across the United States, such as rising childcare costs, pay equity and paid leave, were not women’s issues but ‘American issues,’ she said.

But with its focus nonetheless on women, Clinton used the speech to try to define the choice before Americans when they go to the polls next year.

Republicans, she reminded the crowd, are intent on defunding the reproductive health organization Planned Parenthood, and some candidates, such as Carson and Florida senator Marco Rubio, oppose exceptions to abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is surging in Iowa polls, said exceptions to save a mother’s life were a “spurious argument,” Clinton pointed out.

“They will say, do and spend whatever it takes to advance their out of touch, out of date agenda,” Clinton said.

She also sought to tie the entire Republican field – 18 candidates in total – to a shared ideology, as some contenders seek to distance themselves from Trump and his routinely controversial comments.

Other candidates, Clinton said, in a line she has used before, are “Trump without the pizzazz or the hair.”

Supporters who turned up for the rally appeared to relish in Clinton’s fighting demeanor. They were greeted by New Hampshire’s popular senator Jeanne Shaheen, who endorsed Clinton at the event.

“I know Hillary, and I trust her,” Shaheen said.

New Hampshire has a strong history of supporting female candidates - having elected the first ever all-woman delegation to the US Congress in 2012. The state has also voted into office two women governors, including Shaheen before she became a senator, and chose Clinton over Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Clinton did not campaign as aggressively on gender issues in her previous bid for president, but has more openly embraced the historic nature of her candidacy this time. Democrats are also eager to revive the so-called “ear on women” narrative that has plagued Republicans in recent elections, a message they believe will resonate even more from the first potential female president of the United States.

“I’m a proud lifelong fighter for women’s issues,” Clinton said. “I firmly believe what’s good for women is good for America.”

Clinton’s increasingly fiery rhetoric toward her Republican opponents comes as Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is challenging her for the Democratic nomination, rises in the polls. His popularity has prompted political observers to speculate about whether Clinton is facing a repeat of 2008, when another insurgent candidate – Barack Obama – took her campaign by surprise, eventually beating her to the nomination and winning the presidency.

Clinton’s campaign has maintained its confidence, however, pointing to national figures that continue to place her well above any of her Democratic challengers.

Speaking to reporters after the rally, Clinton said her eyes were squarely focused on the longer battle ahead.

“It certainly is clear that my campaign is focused on the Republicans. That’s who I talk about, that’s who I criticize, because I think they’ve earned it,” she said. “I’m running my campaign and I am criticizing the Republicans on a very regular basis because I want the American people to know what the real choice is.”

Clinton has nonetheless seen a dip in the polls in recent months, amid lingering questions over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. In an interview on Friday, Clinton said she was sorry that the email issue had been confusing to the public and took responsibility for her decision, which she conceded in hindsight was not the best.

The issue has nonetheless continued to loom over her campaign, as evidenced in a Washington Post report late Friday stating that the Clintons had personally paid a State Department staffer to maintain the server.

Clinton reiterated her confidence on Saturday that she had engaged in no wrongdoing, adding that she had encouraged her entire staff to cooperate with an ongoing federal investigation into the matter.

“I feel strongly that the facts are the facts,” Clinton said. “We’ve been repeating them over and over again, and we will continue to do so.”

She also acknowledged paying for the staffer’s services, noting that “during a period of time we continued to need his technical assistance”.

Clinton did not raise the topic of her emails in two separate rallies on Saturday, positioning herself instead as a candidate focused on the issues amid a noisy primary season.

“Other candidates may be out there hurling insults at everyone, talking about what’s wrong with America and who’s to blame for it,” Clinton said. “But I’m going to keep doing what I’ve always done - fight for you and fight for your families.”

She added: “I am paying attention.”

Clinton closed out her one-day swing through New Hampshire with a rally before supporters from organized labor groups. Centering her speech on the need to protect workers’ rights, Clinton said there was an “erosion of unions in America” that must be reversed.

“We have watched a steady assault on the rights to organize and bargain collectively,” Clinton said, adding that as president, she would use the bully pulpit to turn the tide.

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