Hillary Clinton takes on Jeb Bush on racial equality issues
By Zachary Fagenson FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton launched a direct assault on Jeb Bush on Friday, questioning his commitment to tackle issues of economic and racial inequality at a convention of a major African American civil rights group. The meeting of the National Urban League was the first same-stage appearance during the 2016 campaign and could be a general election preview for former Secretary of State Clinton, the front runner for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election, and Bush, a former Florida governor who is one of the leading candidates in the Republican race. Democrats have long counted on African Americans as a loyal voting bloc, whereas the Republican Party acknowledged after its loss in the 2012 presidential race that it needed to build support among minorities to win the presidency. Bush has been trying to expand the appeal of his party by vowing to go places where Republicans haven’t been seen in years, such as Hispanic neighborhoods and African-American churches. Clinton did not mention Bush by name in her speech, but mocked his campaign slogan, "Right to rise," drawing applause from the crowd for her broadside. "I don't think you can credibly say that everyone has a 'right to rise' and then say you're for phasing out Medicare or for repealing Obamacare. People can't rise if they can't afford health care," she said. Bush recently called for reforms to Medicare to make it more fiscally stable, including raising the retirement age and forcing wealthier beneficiaries to pay more. He has said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, and replace it with "catastrophic coverage" that would kick in when people can't afford to pay for health care. When it was his turn to speak, Bush steered clear of a point-by-point rebuttal of Clinton's attack and told reporters afterward he hadn't heard her remarks. Bush said Democratic policies have failed to fix the education system, perpetuating a cycle of inequality, unemployment and poverty. "I want to work with the Urban League movement to end this injustice once and for all," said Bush, who touted his record on improving Florida's school system. "For a half century, this nation has pursued a war on poverty and massive government programs, funded with trillions of taxpayer dollars. This decades-long effort, while well intentioned, has been a losing one," Bush said. Bush received pockets of polite applause from the mainly African American crowd. Tammy McDonald-Anderson, a 52-year-old community organizer from Palm Beach County, said Bush had a steep hill to climb. "He better be prepared and be doing research about what’s important to us,” McDonald-Anderson said. "We won’t take lip service." Republican candidate Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, also spoke, saying he wanted to use corporate tax reform to create jobs for unemployed people. Democratic candidate Martin O'Malley, a former Maryland Governor, focused his speech on racism in the justice system, while Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, Clinton's nearest rival for the Democratic nomination, called for more spending on child care and education. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jonathan Allen; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by James Dalgleish)
