Democratic Presidential Frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrated labor day here in Burlington as she spoke at the annual Des Moines/Henry County Labor Council picnic in 40 and 8 park.
With a heavy security presence, Clinton rolled up in a giant white van and stepped onstage with Congressman Dave Loebsack, who started the event by endorsing her candidacy.
“There is no one in this race who has the experience, who has the qualifications, who has the passion, and who has the ideas that Hillary Rodham Clinton has,” said Loebsack, pledging to do anything he can to help get her elected.
She then went on to talk about her platform with an emphasis on labor issues. Clinton say’s she’ll support and strengthen union power and collective bargaining rights.
“Growing the middle class again, protecting the rights of people in America to join unions, to bargain collectively and build a better future including a stronger middle class,” Clinton said, “I am very confident we can make that case”
Clinton spoke for about 20 minutes, going over mostly domestic issues such as equal pay and increasing the federal minimum wage.
Clinton did not take questions from reporters during the event and did not weigh in on the ongoing congressional investigation into whether or not she improperly shared classified material on her private email server while Secretary of State, but that didn’t bother some of her supporters and potential supporters in the crowd. Don Lindholn is a retired lawyer.
“I loved it. It’s great to come here and get your batteries charged,” said Lindholn.
Clinton and Loebsack shared the stage earlier in the day during an event in the Quad Cities.
