Hillary Clinton says GOP convention was "perversely flattering"
TAMPA -- At a rally here, Hillary Clinton talked about the Republican convention proceedings this week, which, she noted wryly, had largely been about her.
"It was kind of perversely flattering," she told the Tampa crowd, though she added that never before in the history of conventions, "have we moved forward by pointing fingers and scapegoating," instead of getting a plan together and working toward it.
She also commented on Ted Cruz, who was booed off the stage in Cleveland.
"Something's wrong when one candidate says, 'Vote your conscience,' and gets booed," she said. "I never thought I'd say these words, but Ted Cruz was right." She went on to exhort the crowd to vote their conscience -- "for a United States of America."
Trump, she said, "offered a lot of fear and anger and resentment but no solutions about anything that he even talked about."
And she mocked him for the line, "I alone can fix it." "Just think about that for a minute, because it's really important," Clinton said. "His vision of America is one where we Americans are a little helpless. We need to be rescued."
"I can't really imagine him on a white horse, but that seems to be what he's telling us," she said, poking fun at him before going on to talk about the everyday Americans who never say the words "I can fix it alone."
And she promised a different, more optimistic course ahead for her nominating convention next week in Philadelphia, tackling economic inequality and "embracing the diversity that does make our country great."
Remember, she concluded, "Love trumps hate."
Clinton announced Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate by text message to her supporters Friday while making a two-day swing through Florida. Sen. Kaine is expected to join her at an appearance in Miami Saturday, CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports. The two are also set to be interviewed for a "60 Minutes" segment to air this Sunday.
On Twitter, the Clinton campaign praised Senator Kaine's record of public service:
Clinton also introduced Kaine to her Twitter followers in Spanish, which the Senator speaks fluently and is expected to use on the campaign trail alongside Clinton:
Moments after the pick, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus criticized Clinton's choice:
Senator Kaine was chosen above several other contenders, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
Clinton started her Florida trip in Orlando, where she met with families of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in June and visited the nightclub and memorial and met with first responders. She also held a roundtable with community leaders in Orlando before she arrived in Tampa.