TEMPE, Ariz. — Hillary Clinton told supporters in Arizona late Wednesday that the traditional Republican stronghold was “in play for the first time in years” as she addressed her biggest crowd of the campaign to date.
Speaking to a rally of 15,000 people in Tempe, she noted that Arizona has only backed a Democrat for president once since 1948 — and that was for Bill Clinton in 1996.
"We have a real chance to turn this state blue again," she added.
Clinton continued to push down-ballot Democrats, but also took a swipe at local Sheriff Joe Arpaio — who has made a name for himself by targeting Latinos — and urged voters to support his opponent.
"I think it's time you had a new sheriff in town, don't you?” Clinton said, to loud cheers.
Arpaio, who is up for re-election Nov. 8 seeking his seventh term, was charged earlier this month with criminal contempt-of-court for ignoring a judge's order in a racial-profiling case and could face up to six months in jail if convicted.
Throughout her speech, Clinton asked voters to “imagine” what a Donald Trump presidency might look like.
"One way or another … America is going to have a new president. We will have change. The question is: what kind of change are we going to have?” she asked at the outdoor rally on the Arizona State University campus.
“Imagine having a president who demeans women, mocks the disables, insults Latinos, African Americans, Muslims, POWs, who pits people against each other instead of pulling us together, someone with a very thin skin, who lashes out anyone who challenges him, who praises adversaries like Vladimir Putin and picks fights with our allies and even insults the pope.”
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A group of Trump supporters protested outside the perimeter and could faintly be heard chanting “lock her up!” in the distance.
She also made light of Trump’s criticism of her debate preparation.
“Donald kind of made fun of me because I do believe in preparing,” she said. “Fail to plan, plan to fail, that old slogan. I also believe in making lists. This may be a woman’s thing.”
In an unexpected twist, Clinton praised Republican Carly Fiorina as a “distinguished woman with a tremendous record of accomplishments” and slammed Trump for making comments about her appearance last year.
The former secretary of state was introduced by the family and friends of Damian Lopez Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant who was killed in combat during the Iraq War. The Clinton campaign recently released a video about him to hit Trump on his immigration positions.
The crowd count of 15,000 was provided by the fire marshal.
