Hanover
“You cannot give this country’s future away to people who think that anger is better than answers, that resentment is much better than empowerment, that endless conflict is better than cooperation, and that the path forward in the world is walls, not bridges,” the 70-year-old Clinton told the crowd of nearly 500 listening in the Hopkins Center for the Arts. “You can’t do it — it’s your life.”
Clinton dove into the nitty-gritty of Hillary Clinton’s policy plans, including reforms to college financing, small business lending, and public infrastructure that he promised would improve millions of Americans’ lives.
He also made appeal after appeal directly to New Hampshire voters, telling them they had a “historic opportunity” to influence a divisive election that could weigh heavily on the fate of the country.
“This is not the mud fights you’ll see on television,” he said of Hillary Clinton’s policy proposals, “but this will actually change your life.”
Both sides are making trips to the New Hampshire as the polls narrow in the final weeks before Nov. 8. At an appearance in Portsmouth this past weekend, Trump claimed, without offering any evidence, that Hillary Clinton had taken drugs before their latest debate.
Bill Clinton did not address Trump’s comment on Monday, nor did he once utter the candidate’s name. But he did make several thinly veiled attacks on the Republican nominee.
“I don’t like ‘make America great again,’ ” he said, using a Trump slogan, “because I know what it means. It means vote for me and I’ll give you the economy you had 50 years ago, and I’ll move you back up on the social totem pole. It’s exactly the wrong message.”
Clinton said later, “We got a guy running for president who says the military’s a disaster and he knows more about ISIS (than U.S. generals). Everything’s a disaster except his campaign.”
“All I know is wherever in the world people are working together, across lines that bring together people with diverse perspectives, experience and knowledge, good things are happening,” he added.
As he closed his remarks, Clinton said that New Hampshire had special meaning for him and his family, and told voters that the character of their state was more aligned with unity than with division.
“It’s a special place,” he said, “where people are expected to know one another, and argue face to face and have a difference of opinion without demonizing one another, and judge people based on the weight of their life and their work and what they care about.”
The Trump campaign fired back at the Clintons Monday afternoon, criticizing the couple’s charitable foundation and lucrative speaking appearances, which Trump officials said were part of a pattern of “pay-to-play politics.”
“The Clintons are a disgrace and they should not be allowed to move back into the White House with their long caravan of ethical baggage,” the campaign said in a statement attributed to senior adviser Mike Biundo.
Bill Clinton’s appearance at Dartmouth came on the heels of a joint event on Sunday with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Nashville star Connie Britton, who were once roommates at Dartmouth.
If the campaign surrogates’ presence on campus was meant to turn out young voters, the attendance at Monday’s rally bore out the idea.
Before the event, which was held in Alumni Hall in the Hopkins Center, a capacity crowd filled the second floor and spilled down the stairs, out the door and to the street.
First-year Dartmouth student Brandon Nye, who was one of the roughly 470 people who made it into the event hall, said he was fully behind Clinton, despite having favored Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the hotly contested Democratic primary.
“That was not a tough decision,” he said of his support now for Hillary Clinton.
Nye said he wasn’t aware of many Sanders supporters at Dartmouth who were prepared to vote against Clinton or sit this one out.
“I think most of the people who were for Bernie are active in the political scene,” he said, and so “they understand what’s at stake.”
Afterward, Natalia McLaren, another first-year student, was brimming with energy as she left the hall, tripping over her words as she spoke to a reporter.
“I’m so excited,” said McLaren, who, although usually a political independent, said she had no difficulty picking between Clinton and Trump.
“Not these two,” she said.
McLaren, who wore a Clinton sticker on her shirt, said she expected her peers to come out for the Democrat as well.
“I sense this is the most conservative of the Ivies,” she said, “but they understand that on such a diverse campus you have to work together.”
Bill Clinton was joined on Monday afternoon by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern. Later in the day, Clinton campaigned at Keene State College in Keene, N.H.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.