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PHILADELPHIA — Work together to rise together and America will be strong together. That was the theme of Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech Thursday night.
Before a packed Wells Fargo Center, Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, delivered a rousing speech that drew cheers and standing ovations time and again.
Grace McGregor Kramer, a Hillary-pledged delegate from Scranton, said Clinton hit it out of the park with her words and delivery.
“She carries such a message of hope, progress and optimism for America,” Kramer said. “Everyone on the floor was extremely emotional throughout the speech.”
Kramer said she was fortunate to be able to witness the historic moment when Clinton became the first woman in American history to accept the nomination to run for president.
“We are living history tonight,” she said. “This has been one of the most incredible moments of my lifetime.”
With chants of “Hillary” filing the arena time and again, Clinton said America is once again at a moment of reckoning.
Kramer said many delegates were saying “finally” when Clinton came out, as in finally a woman is running for president. She also said many delegates who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders were just as excited and emotional as she was as Clinton spoke. The “Bernie or Bust” delegates seemed to be in the minority, she added.
From the podium, Clinton assured Sanders that his issues are her issues. She detailed her plan on how she plans to empower all Americans to live better lives. She said her primary mission as president will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States.
“From my first day in office to my last, especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind. From our inner cities to our small towns, Indian Country to Coal Country. From the industrial Midwest to the Mississippi Delta to the Rio Grande Valley,” Clinton said.
Clinton shifted her speech to national security, citing all the threats and turbulence from Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando.
“We’re dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated,” she said. “No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance — looking for steady leadership.”
And Clinton was direct to the point in gun control.
“I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I’m not here to take away your guns. I just don’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place,” she said.
Kramer said delegates were “all in” on the gun debate issue and everything else Clinton said. She said unity seemed to have come to the party.
