Clinton is the clear choice in November
By Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
George Curry Media
This has been a negative political season. It’s time to stop the insults. Let’s stop the negative branding. Let’s stop the negativity and name-calling and get on with a real debate about the real issues facing the American people and our future.
The stakes are high. People are looking for answers, not insults. They face real challenges. They want someone who will fight for them, someone who can show them that they both know what needs to be done and that they are committed to getting it done.
Hillary Clinton is the clear choice in November.
She fares better as the moral compass of the nation – telling hard truths and offering not conversation but correction. Donald Trump says he will build a wall. Clinton says we need to build bridges, and tear down walls of separation, fear and hatred. She offers a clear eye and a bold alternative to Trump.
Clinton can electrify her voters by laying out a bold agenda to rebuild our cities. Anger and violence is rising. Poverty is more deeply entrenched. Drugs and guns are too readily available. Schools are being closed; children are being lost. Jobs are scarce, particularly for the young.
Why not call for ending the deferral of taxes for global corporations, making them pay what is owed for the profits they report as stashed abroad? Use that money to rebuild neighborhoods in need. Provide jobs retrofitting buildings, renovating a decrepit infrastructure from safe water systems to mass transit. Invest in community public schools, with wrap-around services. Provide child nutrition, health care, pre-k and the basics in education. It is always easier to nurture a strong child than to rescue a broken adult.
The theme “Rebuild America, and put America back to work” rings true today.
A bold program to rebuild our cities, to move them to renewable energy and energy efficiency, to build affordable housing, guarantee access to high-quality health care, prepare great public schools, crack down on drugs and guns and reform our criminal injustice system would create jobs and accelerate growth. It would move us toward a full-employment economy in which wages would rise on the bottom, not merely at the top.
Hillary offers a bold agenda that will electrify voters. Defending it against inevitable gibes and attacks affirms the seriousness of the commitment. The scope allows people to see themselves in the change. The audacity galvanizes hope and makes people not only more likely to vote but more likely to bring others to the polls.
The votes of urban America were central to Clinton’s victory in the primaries. African-Americans and Latinos have not yet recovered from the Great Recession. We were hit the hardest in the loss of homes, the loss of jobs, the loss of wealth.
The residents of our impoverished neighborhoods are looking for someone with a real plan and a clear commitment to rebuild these neighborhoods. What we are looking for is a plan commensurate with the size of the challenge. Hillary answers the call.
Want to get voters excited about turning out to vote? Offer answers, not insults. Offer commitment, not posturing. Fear of Trump may drive some to the polls, but Hillary offers real hope for change that will inspire many more. It’s all about Healing, Hope and Hillary.
Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is founder and president of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition. You can keep up with his work at www.rainbowpush.org
