Clinton cites Lincoln's "House Divided" talk in unity plea
SPRINGFIELD -- Invoking Abraham Lincoln's famous words from 1858, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called for unity in the wake of recent events that have prompted Americans to ask whether their country remains a "house divided."
"I believe that our future peace and prosperity depends on whether we meet this moment with honesty and courage," Clinton said, speaking from a dais inside the Old State House in Springfield. "And all that starts with doing a better job of listening to each other."
Clinton's speech on Wednesday was one of several that she's made throughout her campaign that address the divisions that still persist in American society, and that have defined this election. It built on the one that she made last Friday in Philadelphia, less than 24 hours after five police officers were shot and killed in Dallas.
Clinton pleaded with the audience that day to try and walk "in one another's shoes."
"White Americans need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers you face every day," she said. "And let's put ourselves in the shoes of police officers, kissing their kids and spouses goodbye every day and heading off to a dangerous job we need them to do."
But the backdrop on Wednesday in Springfield, where Lincoln launched his campaign for the Senate nearly 160 years ago, served to contextualize and amplify her belief that Americans are "stronger together."
"This is an idea that goes back to the founding of America, when 13 separate colonies found a way, despite their differences, to join together as one nation," she said. "They knew that they were not stronger on their own and neither are we."
And in this difficult time for the country, Clinton called on voters to reject the candidacy of Donald Trump.
"This man is the nominee of the Party of Lincoln," she said. "We are watching it become the Party of Trump, and that's not just a huge loss for our democracy. It is a threat to it."
It's a line that Clinton has used before -- as early as last summer -- but Trump is now days away from being nominated for President by the Republican party. Clinton argued that his candidacy is divisive, dangerous and, moreover, an affront to "our most cherished democratic values and institutions."
"He has shown contempt for and ignorance of our Constitution," she said, citing Trump's promise last week to protect "Article XII," which doesn't exist. "The very first thing a new President does is take an oath to 'protect and defend' the Constitution. To do that, with any meaning, you've got to know what's in it."
She warned against Trump's policies and ideas, including a ban on Muslims entering the United States, add up to a message that "you should be afraid."
And while Clinton tried to express that she understands the deep pessimism, and sometimes anger, that Americans are feeling, she reiterated her belief in their ability to come together.
"Previous generations have had to overcome terrible challenges, and no one more so than Abraham Lincoln," she said. "But in the end, if we do the work, we will 'cease to be divided.'"