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In Dallas, One Clinton (Bill) Campaigns For The Other Clinton (Hillary)

Stella M. Chávez
/
KERA News
Dozens of people waited in line Monday afternoon to hear Former President Bill Clinton speak at Paul Quinn College in Dallas.

Bill Clinton made a historic trip to Paul Quinn College Monday. It was the first time a president – former or current – has visited the private, historically black university in Dallas.

He was there to stump for his wife and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She faces Democrat Bernie Sanders in the March 1 Texas primary.

During the 40-minute speech, the former president talked about inclusiveness and didn’t hesitate to refer to GOP candidate Donald Trump – not by name though.

“I noticed one other presidential candidate, on the other side, said that he wanted to be president so could make American great again,” Clinton said as the crowd laughed and booed. “Well, let me tell you something – you’re listening to stories of the immigrants here and what they’ve made of their lives. America never stopped being great; we just need to make America whole again, America for everybody again.”

Clinton touched on issues that resonated with the diverse crowd. He told them a Hillary Clinton administration would create jobs, modernize the country’s infrastructure and help reduce college debt.

Unlike home mortgages or other debt, he said college debt can’t be refinanced.

“Under Hillary’s, everybody would be given up to 20 years to pay their college debt off limited as a small fixed percentage of your after-taxed income, so you would never be paralyzed,” Clinton said.

The former president also drew cheers when he talked about equal pay and paid leave for women and passing sensible immigration reform. He also said people have to stop demonizing Planned Parenthood for providing care to poor people.

Early voting for next Tuesday’s primary continues through Friday. 

A new poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune has Hillary Clinton 10 points ahead of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in Texas. On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is eight points ahead of Donald Trump in Texas.

Stella M. Chávez is KERA’s immigration/demographics reporter/blogger. Her journalism roots run deep: She spent a decade and a half in newspapers – including seven years at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered education and won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, which is given annually to the best journalists across the country under age 35.