June 14 – Hillary Clinton is calling for unity ahead of the Democratic National Convention.
In spite of a summer storm, and brief power outage, Clinton spoke Wednesday to a crowd of supporters at the old state Capitol in Springfield.
“Recent events have left people across America asking hard questions about whether we are still a house divided,” started Clinton. “Despite our best efforts and highest hopes, America’s long struggle with race is far from finished. In just the past week, we have seen black men killed by police, and five police officers killed by a sniper targeting white police.”
Clinton focused the majority of her speech on a house divided, drawing from President Abraham Lincoln and declaring everyone deserved a fair chance in life. She discussed the need for honesty and courage and policies that promote justice for all people.
“All that starts with doing a better job of listening to each other,” Clinton said before listing officer involved shootings in Illinois last year.
State Senator Andy Manar believes Clinton’s speech was particularly important to Central Illinois.
“Clearly delivering this message of unity in this place and this time puts Springfield and Central Illinois in the spotlight.”
Manar supported Clinton’s cry for a more indivisible nation.
“Her message here today is applicable to Decatur. It’s applicable to Dallas. It’s applicable to every community that has been rocked by these kind of instances.”
State Representative Sue Scherer also chimed in on the importance of a presidential candidate in Central Illinois.
Scherer stated, “For us, we feel like we matter, that we are important, and she’s not just going to take our vote for granted.”
Clinton finished out her speech with a final call for a more united country.
“In the end, if we do the work, we will cease to be divided. We in fact will be indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We will remain, in President Lincoln’s words, ‘the last, best hope of Earth.’”