With less than two weeks until Election Day, the former president, famed for his charisma, laid out the stark differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Though it’s been nearly 25 years since former President Bill Clinton last held public office, the two-term Arkansas Democrat still understands the significance of maximizing voter turnout.
For Clinton, it was how he became the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to carry Nevada in a presidential election. In 1992, it was Clinton who edged out Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush by fewer than 15,000 votes in the Silver State.
Since then, Nevada has elected a Democratic presidential candidate in each cycle other than 2000 and 2004. And given the polling that shows a dead heat in this year’s race, Clinton told volunteers and supporters on Tuesday in Las Vegas that it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck effort to carry Nevada for this year’s Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We can run away with this thing still, but we’ve got to care enough to show up,” Clinton told roughly 200 people at the Doolittle Community Center in Las Vegas’ Historic West Side. “And we’ve gotta care enough to talk to our neighbors.”
Clinton spoke for almost 40 minutes inside a cramped meeting space at the community center and contrasted the differing policies of Harris with her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
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“I really wanted to see him in-person,” said Bob Dito, 69, of Henderson. ”I admired him when he was in office and all of the things that he did, so I wanted to hear him speak live.”
Clinton also encouraged Nevada voters to support Democratic US Sen. Jacky Rosen for re-election, adding that her efforts as a chief negotiator in the 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone should warrant her another six-year stint in Washington.
“I think Jacky Rosen is an extraordinary Senator,” Clinton said, praising her as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. “She is the embodiment of what I believe we need in the way that we govern.”
The former president highlighted a number of issues polls say rank among the highest concerns for Nevada voters, such as the price of consumer goods, immigration, and access to affordable housing — issues he argues Harris, a former Senator and attorney general, is better equipped to tackle than Trump.
Clinton further asserted that the greatest obstacle Harris faces in the waning days of the campaign is convincing voters that her position on many key issues facing voters align better with the electorate’s than Trump’s.
“It’s stunning — when people know her position and his, they like hers better,” Clinton said, referring to an interactive Washington Post article published Tuesday that showed where voters’ preferences aligned with each candidate’s agenda. “Except where they agree, like no taxes on tips anymore, which is a big deal here. But you don’t have to vote for him to get that because they’re both for that.”
Clinton during his political career was widely praised as a charismatic policy wonk who had a gift for explaining his stance on policy proposals to everyday people. And on Tuesday, Clinton tried to explain the nuances of Harris’ plans to curb corporate price gouging in terms he believes most voters will ultimately agree with.
On inflation, Clinton said Harris’ plan to enable the Justice Department to work with states to investigate price gouging could give Americans the transparency they deserve while also allowing officials and good-faith corporate actors to lower the price of goods like groceries, gasoline, and other consumer goods.
Supply chain snarls in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Clinton said, created supply bottlenecks that left many retailers with no choice but to raise prices. But as many US corporations continue to report record profits years later, some of those gains are the byproduct of bad-faith corporate profiteering, Clinton said.
“It’s been a good while since we’ve had our supply chain back up, and we deserve to know,” Clinton said of potential price fixing. “And if the Justice Department can look into these things, we will know. And, if the grocers know this is going to happen, they’ll be a lot more reluctant to raise prices.”
Denise Wright, 61, of Henderson told The Nevadan after Clinton’s speech that his explanation about price gouging was one she’s yet to hear Harris say herself, but was the type of messaging she thinks would really resonate with voters.
“I thought that was a very clear-cut way to explain it,” Wright said. “That’s what we need to project and get out there more because I knew she [Harris] has been saying she’d go after them, but I hadn’t heard any concrete facts how she would do that.”
Tuesday marked 14 days until Election Day, which this year is Nov. 5. Early voting remains open until Nov. 1, meaning that Nevadans registered to vote can either submit the mail ballot sent to them by the Nevada Secretary of State’s office or stop by a polling place at their county of residence to participate.
Those who aren’t registered to vote may register online or stop at a polling site or at their county clerk’s office to sign up, but they will not receive a mail ballot for this year’s election. Residents who don’t participate in the early voting period may still register and/or cast a ballot on Election Day.
For Nevadans like Wright, who said she’s been volunteering in recent weeks for the Harris campaign, she’s excited for the final stretch of the election, and hopes her hard work will help Harris carry Nevada in the same fashion Clinton did in ‘92.
“Every vote counts,” Wright said. “It’s the most important thing to do. It’s our duty for the people and generations that come after us.”
