Hillary Clinton made her first visit to the South this presidential campaign, arriving in South Carolina Wednesday with a pledge to raise wages for the lowest-paid jobs and strengthen equal pay protections for women.
"We're going to have to stand up to people who want to keep the deck stacked in favor of those at the top," Clinton said in a speech to the South Carolina Democratic Women's Council.
The former Secretary of State vowed to bring more transparency requirements to some job openings, such as public posting of salary ranges, and endorsed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which has stalled amid fierce opposition in Congress.
"I think transparency when it comes to pay is our friend," she said. "The more we can bring it out from the table and put it on top, the more we can advocate for ourselves."
The visit to South Carolina is aimed at putting to rest any lingering animosity from the vicious battle in 2008 with Barack Obama. The primary battle got testy after Bill Clinton called Obama's stance on the Iraq war "the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen" and compared Obama's presidential campaign to Jesse Jackson's failed bid.
Prominent black leaders saw the remarks as insulting to Obama, and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s most influential Democrat, advised Bill Clinton to tone down his remarks. The former president responded with an angry call to Clyburn after Obama won the contest by nearly 29 percentage points. (Clinton later apologized to Clyburn, who is staying neutral in this contest).
This time around, Clinton's campaign hopes the mood in South Carolina is very different. She didn't speak of the racially-fraught dynamic, though her campaign's schedule Wednesday was telling.
She started her day here with a private meeting with minority business owners and then a talk with the House caucus, whose members are mostly black. Her in-state hires include former Obama aides and several well-known black leaders dot the list of 3,700 volunteers in South Carolina who have pledged to support Clinton's bid.
Clinton has released few details on her policy proposals and she's faced criticism that her appearances are overly-scripted. At Wednesday's event, she knocked GOP contenders who oppose the Paycheck Fairness Act over fears that it could make it easier to sue corporations over allegations of pay inequity.
"What century are they living in?" she said. "But thankfully, the American people know the truth, and the truth is when a woman is short-changed, the entire family is short-changed."
The Republican National Committee said Clinton was a walking contradiction because she "paid women significantly less than men in her own Senate office."
"The reality is that Hillary Clinton will say anything to benefit herself politically," said Allison Moore, an RNC spokeswoman.
Clinton told the crowd how she turned down Obama twice before she accepted his offer for the Secretary of State job. That's when her husband reminded her that she turned him down twice before agreeing to marry him.
"I may not be the youngest candidate in this race. But I have one big advantage: I've been coloring my hair for years. You're not going to see me turn white in the White House," the 67-year-old said to laughter. "And you're not going to see me shrink from a fight. I think by now people know I don't quit."
South Carolina is the last of Clinton’s visits to early primary states, and it has attracted at least 80 visits by GOP hopefuls so far. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a native son, is expected to announce his candidacy next week in a move that could further scramble the contest. On Wednesday alone, two Republican contenders crisscrossed the state - Ohio Gov. John Kasich and businesswoman Carly Fiorina.
Fiorina, who held court outside the Marriott Hotel as Clinton supporters streamed in, questioned the Democrat's claim that the average women makes 78 cents on the dollar compared with men, and said she was "amazed at how often people in government are ready to throw stones at businesses of all sizes."
"This is politicians trying to use a debate to drive their particular agenda regardless of the facts or the causes," Fiorina said.
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