CLEVELAND: Hillary Clinton clearly got her fill of Donald Trump this week.
On Wednesday, they shared a debate stage, interrupting and insulting each other for 90 minutes. Thursday, they attended a political dinner in which presidential candidates roast one another and themselves. With such bad blood between them, the event was an evening of awkwardly sincere mockery.
So on Friday in Cleveland, Clinton took a moment to relish being all alone on stage in the middle of 1,600 fans and curious voters.
“Well,” she said after asking the cheering crowd if they caught Wednesday’s debate, “that was the third and last time that I will ever have to debate Donald Trump.”
Clinton spoke for a half-hour Friday afternoon in a half-filled basketball arena on the campus of Cuyahoga Community College.
She quickly capitalized on the Cavaliers’ success, calling Ohio the home of champions. A native of Illinois, she said she wouldn’t mind seeing the Cubs face the Indians in the World Series, “and for us to win Ohio” on Election Day, she added.
“We need you all in,” she said, borrowing a motto from Cavs fans.
Then she quickly got to business, attacking the man she so gleefully did not have to share the stage with.
“On Wednesday night, Donald Trump did something no other nominee has ever done. He refused to say he would accept the results of the election.” The crowd booed. “Now, make no mistake; by doing that, he is disrespecting our democracy.
“A peaceful transition of power is one of the things that sets us apart [from dictatorships],” she said. “It’s how we hold our country together, no matter who’s in charge.”
Since the debate, Trump has said he will accept the outcome of the election “if I win.” He’s praised North Korean and Russian despots for dispatching their political enemies with ease. They don’t play games, he’s said.
And, as he’s slipped in the polls, he’s begun to suggest that the election will be rigged. Even Republicans, among them Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Gov. John Kasich, have called Trump’s election criticism “irresponsible” and “silly”.
Clinton, without Trump there to interrupt her, vigorously defended the democratic process.
“You know, I’ve been to 120 countries as your Secretary of State. And I saw the difference between what we do and others do. I’ve seen countries where people jail their political opponents or execute them or exile them or invalidate elections that they didn’t win. That can never happen here.”
Ohio in the mix
With 18 days left in the campaign, Clinton and Trump have returned Ohio to the political limelight.
The Democratic nominee kicked off October here with her only Akron stop of the election. Her husband, Bill, came to Canton the next week, followed by President Barack Obama in Cleveland and Vice President Joe Biden planning to swing through Toledo and Dayton on Monday.
Trump, less often sending surrogates, was in central Ohio on Thursday, North Carolina on Friday and will speak with running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Saturday at the I-X Center in Cleveland — the first time he and Pence have shared the stage there since the Republican National Convention.
Two of the last four Ohio polls have the race deadlocked. Clinton has cut into the lead Trump once enjoyed.
To drive home victory (the electoral map at this point shows Clinton with enough votes in enough states that matter), Clinton has turned her attention to driving voter turnout and shaking the notion that people just can’t find the enthusiasm to care.
“I definitely don’t like Trump. I’d rather see him lose than anything,” said Cameron Maddocks, who drove in from Springfield, Mo., to visit Cedar Point. While eating a hotel breakfast on a rainy Friday morning, he and his girlfriend — each old enough to vote in their first election — decided to drive further east to see if Clinton could inspire them like Sen. Bernie Sanders, who easily got their votes in the primary.
“We wanted Bernie,” said Siara Boyce, who joined Maddocks. “So now, it’s just, like, to vote for the better one.”
Fighting for advocacy
Clinton and her campaign have picked up on the lack of enthusiasm among youth voters. So, she spoke directly to them Friday while standing on the issues they care about — maintaining marriage equality, protecting LGBT rights, safeguarding the environment, making college affordable for those enrolling now and easier to finance student loan debt for graduates.
“Education should lift you up, not hold you back,” Clinton said.
Clinton, who spent much of her life advocating for children and families, also recognized the young protesters and activists who fight “systemic racism,” gun violence, voter suppression and police brutality in Cleveland and elsewhere.
A meeting earlier in the day with leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement rang through in her remarks.
“It’s important that we lift these issues up and work to make sure that everybody in our country feel that they are seen and they are heard,” Clinton said. “And all of the activists who have challenged us to think about these issues of race and justice and equality and opportunity really deserve our appreciation.”
Her meeting was criticized, however, by law enforcement officials who say she has denied them the opportunity to meet with her.
“Hillary Clinton shows where her priorities lie when she meets with radicals from Black Lives Matter but refuses requests to meet with our local police officers” in Cleveland and across the nation, said Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, in a news release distributed by the Trump’s campaign. “By accepting this meeting with this racially exclusive and divisive group that has incited attacks against police officers, she sets back our efforts to restore trust with the law abiding citizens we serve in the neighborhoods where our presence is needed the most.”
Beacon Journal reporter Doug Livingston can be emailed at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com