WASHINGTON (AP) – The upcoming fall elections would offer a clear choice for female voters on economic issues, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday, pointing to Democratic women as the key to the party’s future prospects.
“These midterms really matter. I know they may not be as glamorous as presidential elections, but these upcoming midterm elections really are crucial to our future,” said Clinton, the party’s leading presidential contender if she decides to run again.
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the former secretary of state, senator and first lady headlined a daylong forum held by the Democratic National Committee for more than 500 of the party’s top female donors. Democrats are trying to hold onto a slim majority in the Senate and are defending several female incumbents – Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire – while seeking to mobilize Democratic women, who typically vote in smaller numbers in nonpresidential elections.
Democrats cited Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage, which they said has a disproportionate effect on women, efforts to repeal Obama’s health care reforms and last year’s partial government shutdown.
“If we don’t keep these great women in the Senate and we don’t make gains in the House, then we’re going to lose the chance to make the next step in progress which is waiting because America is about to explode economically,” Biden said.