Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the River Center in Davenport on Wednesday, comparing Bruce Braley to senator Tom Harkin.
“(Braley) has got the same fighting spirit; he’s got the same can-do attitude that Tom Harkin did,” said Clinton.
Clinton praised Iowans for taking politics seriously, saying that politicians had to answer “thorough questions” if they wanted the people’s votes.
“Not in Iowa do people get away with not answering questions, except questions that are far in the future,” said Clinton.
Clinton said that unlike his opponent, Joni Ernst, Braley will answer questions instead of allowing “all that right-side money” answer questions for him.
“People who run for office are not just asking for your support; they’re asking for your trust,” said Clinton. “If they won’t answer your questions or the questions of the newspapers of your state, how do you even know what they’re going to do?”
Clinton discussed Braley’s campaign, which focuses on college affordability, protecting Social Security for seniors, equal pay, women’s access to healthcare and ending tax breaks for companies outsourcing jobs overseas.
She praised Braley’s campaign for affordable birth control, while criticizing Ernst’s “personhood law.”
“It’s not enough to be a woman,” Clinton said. “You have to be committed for expanding the rights and opportunities for women. Listening to Bruce’s opponent, if she had her way, we could loose the preventative services that are now available, like mammograms.”
Clinton said equal pay is not just a women’s issue, but a family, fairness and an economic issue as well, costing women and families thousands of dollars a year.
“I think it’s amazing we are still debating this in the twenty-first century,” Clinton said.
Braley repeated the phrase “Joni Ernst is not on your side” when it came to repealing the Federal minimum wage, privatizing social security, “voucherizing Medicare” and eliminating the department of education and the environmental protection agency.
“Privatizing social security is something I would never support,” said Braley.  “It’s a retirement plan for Wall Street investment bankers, not a retirement plan for Iowans.”
Clinton condemned Ernst’s negative campaign, claiming that voters need to overcome the negative ads and her campaign funding.
“They’re more concerned with pigs and chickens than hard-working women and men,” said Clinton.