Clinton woos Oakland voters ahead of California primary

U.S. Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton on Sunday (June 5) visited an Oakland, California church, where she touted her experience and asked for votes ahead of the state’s nominating contest in two days.

Democratic voters head to the polls on Tuesday (June 7) to pick their party’s nominee for the November election.

The former first lady Clinton praised President Barack Obama and said she understood some of the struggles that he has endured as president.

“I happen to know how hard this job is. I wish it was only about making speeches. You know just get up there and promise the moon, and make all of these rhetorical flourishes. That’d be a lot easier than what the job is. You know the job is, OK after the speeches are done the votes are counted, how are you going to produce results? And President Obama produced results and created a lot of progress that we have to continue and protect going forward,” she said.

She said she had fond memories of living and working in Oakland after law school.

“My first legal job was a Children’s Defense Fund but I also worked for a law firm right here in Oakland. I worked here in Oakland in the summer of 1971. And I just started dating my husband. This may be too much information. It was the spring of 1971,” she said, eliciting laughter from the congregation.

Clinton touched on a number of campaign issues, from early childhood education programs to stemming gun violence, that she would work on as president.

“I would be honored and humbled to have your support. I promise you I will work my heart out for you, for your families, ,to leave absolutely no stone unturned, to try to create the best possible opportunities for every person in this country who is willing to work for them, willing to stand up and help others work for them,” she said.

“If we come together starting on Tuesday, going through November, that is exactly the kind of country that we can once again say is helping to create the future that we want for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren,” Clinton added.

California is the final big contest in the long, bitter fight for the Democratic nomination, with 475 delegates up for grabs.

Opinion polls show the Democratic race there tightening in recent weeks. Where Clinton, a former secretary of state, once held a big lead over Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, the two now are nearly tied.

A University of Southern California/Los Angeles Times poll released on Friday (June 3) showed Sanders with a one-percentage-point lead over Clinton in the state, 44 to 43 percent, a swing from March when Clinton held a nine-point edge.