Hillary Clinton played it safe at her final rally of the 2016 general election, saying very little that hasn’t already been said on the campaign trail and sticking to her tried-and-true talking points.
And the audience in Raleigh, N.C., loved it.
Along with former President Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, the Democratic nominee appeared on stage in North Carolina well after midnight to deliver her final message of the 2016 election.
Clinton touched on all her usual themes, including her promise to close the pay gap, to raise the federal minimum wage and to “build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.”
Clinton also made sure to attack her opponent, GOP nominee Donald Trump. She went after him with her usual lines of attack, including criticizing him for his public fight with a gold star family of Muslim faith and for saying Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not a war hero. She was also careful to remind supporters of the Republican candidate’s many controversial comments regarding women.
The closest Clinton came to straying from message was when she acknowledged the presence of Jon Bon Jovi, who had joined her earlier Monday evening for a campaign rally in Philadelphia. Bon Jovi later asked is he could join the Clinton in Raleigh, and they complied.
“Our longtime friend Bon Jovi was with us in Philly,” Clinton said, explaining how he hitched a ride to North Carolina.
She added in reference to one of his pop hits from the 1980s, “Between now and the time the polls close, we’re going to be living on a prayer!”
Other than that, however, Clinton stayed mostly on target, and closed out the rally by highlighting the message that her campaign is the only one offering a “positive” and “progressive” vision for America.
When you look back on how you voted in 2016, the Democratic nominee said, you’ll “be able to say you voted for a better, fairer America.”
An America where, “we build bridges, not walls,” Clinton added.
“I want to be president for all Americans,” she said. “We all have a role to play in building that better future for our country.”
Clinton ended her Monday rally with her usual challenge to supporters: To prove in 2016 that “love trumps hate.”
