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 The annual convention of the National Urban League marked the
first same-stage appearance for Clinton, front-runner for the
Democratic presidential nomination, and Bush, one of the leading
candidates in the Republican race.
Democrats have long counted on African Americans as a loyal voting
bloc, whereas the Republican Party acknowledged after its loss in
the 2012 presidential race that it needed to build support among
minorities to win the presidency.
Bush has been trying to expand the appeal of his party by vowing to
go places where Republicans haven’t been seen in years, such as
Hispanic neighborhoods and African-American churches.
Clinton did not mention Bush by name in her speech, but mocked his
campaign slogan, "Right to rise," drawing applause from the crowd
for her broadside.
"I don't think you can credibly say that everyone has a 'right to
rise' and then say you're for phasing out Medicare or for repealing
Obamacare. People can't rise if they can't afford health care," she
said.
Bush recently called for reforms to Medicare to make it more
fiscally stable, including raising the retirement age and forcing
wealthier beneficiaries to pay more.
He has said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, commonly called
Obamacare, and replace it with "catastrophic coverage" that would
kick in when people can't afford to pay for health care.
When it was his turn to speak, Bush did not respond to Clinton's
attack, using his speech to offer a message of unity. He told
reporters afterward he hadn't heard her remarks.
Bush campaign spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger called Clinton's
remarks "just more false, cheap political shots to distract from the
fact that Secretary Clinton has no record of accomplishment to run
on in this race."
"The Urban League deserved better today," she said.
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In his speech, Bush said Democratic policies have failed to fix the
education system, perpetuating a cycle of inequality, unemployment
and poverty.
"I want to work with the Urban League movement to end this injustice
once and for all," said Bush, who touted his record on improving
Florida's school system.
"For a half century, this nation has pursued a war on poverty and
massive government programs, funded with trillions of taxpayer
dollars. This decades-long effort, while well intentioned, has been
a losing one," Bush said.
Bush received pockets of polite applause from the mainly African
American crowd.
Tammy McDonald-Anderson, a 52-year-old community organizer from Palm
Beach County, said Bush had a steep hill to climb.
"He better be prepared and be doing research about what’s important
to us,” McDonald-Anderson said. "We won’t take lip service."
Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders, two other Democratic candidates,
also spoke, as did Republican Ben Carson.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jonathan Allen; Writing
by Roberta Rampton; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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