Sanders seeks to sway women voters
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday made the case for female voters to get behind his candidacy.
During a speech in Rock Hill, S.C., Sanders rattled off a number of proposals that would help working women and single mothers, such as a $15 minimum wage, affordable child care and equal pay, according to the Washington Post.
{mosads}“It kind of should be a no-brainer that two people doing the same work should get equal pay,” the self-described democratic socialist told the southeastern regional meeting of the National Federation of Democratic Women.
Sanders’ push may be a tough sell considering his chief rival in the Democratic field, Hillary Clinton, is vying to become the first woman president in U.S. history.
Without making direct critiques of Clinton, Sanders touted his plan that would require employers to offer new parents three months of paid family leave.
“When a mom has a baby, that mom has a right to stay home with that baby,” Sanders said. “Not a radical idea.”
He also slammed Republicans for trying to restrict access to abortions and contraceptives, accusing them of running a “counter-revolution” against women’s health.
Clinton surrogate Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) defended her record at the gathering of female Democratic activists.
“Like many of us, Hillary gets her drive from her family,” she said. “Hillary has told me that she wants every child in this country to have the same opportunities as her grandbaby, Charlotte.”
Sanders is sharpening his message against Clinton, who has gained ground on the senator in early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire after a strong stretch for her campaign.
Clinton escaped a hearing from the House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, terror attacks relatively unscathed. And Vice President Joe Biden, who could have emerged as a top rival to Clinton, opted out of the race.
Sanders has changed his tone on the controversy surrounding Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State. He said this week questions about her email account are “valid,” after claiming last month Americans are “sick and tired” of hearing about her “damn emails.”
The senator has also questioned Clinton’s authenticity on core issues such as campaign finance reform and the Keystone XL pipeline.
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