GOP tenets lambasted by Clinton

Correction: Robert Johnston, former legislator and chairman of the state Public Service Commission, first met former President Bill Clinton while the two were Rhodes scholars in 1968. The scholars program was misidentified in this story.

At a North Little Rock political fundraiser Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Republicans of promoting regressive policies on taxes, job creation and the environment.

The former U.S. secretary of state and Arkansas first lady, a state resident for nearly two decades, got an enthusiastic welcome from a crowd of nearly 2,000 people who gathered at Verizon Arena.

"Democrats are in the future business," Clinton said. "But for the Republican candidates, we see the opposite. They may have some fresh faces, but they are the party of the past. ... We believe that the measure of our success should be how much incomes rise for hardworking families and not just for CEOs and money managers. ... But Rs believe something very different."

Clinton lambasted the conservative philosophy of "trickle-down" economics, the idea that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans will lead to economic benefits for Americans at all income levels.

Critics for decades have used the term pejoratively to refer to Republican economic proposals.

"The answer is always the same [for Republicans]. ... Trickle-down economics has to be one of the worst ideas of the 1980s," Clinton said. "It's right up there with New Coke, shoulder pads and big hair."

Added Clinton: "I lived through that. There are photographs. Believe me, we're not going back."

Clinton, who is also a former U.S. first lady and senator from New York, didn't mention any of her Democratic opponents by name. But she singled out Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for being the standard-bearer of policies she said are out of whack with working Americans.

"Last night the new Republican front-runner was here in Arkansas. ... Finally, a candidate whose hair gets more attention than mine," Clinton said.

"There is nothing funny about the hate he is spewing at immigrants ... and now the insults he's directed at a genuine war hero, Sen. John McCain."

Earlier Saturday, Trump told an Iowa audience that McCain, despite his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was not a "war hero," a statement that was widely denounced by fellow Republican presidential candidates and a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Clinton criticized another Republican candidate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for being out of touch with working Americans.

Clinton said that as president, she would work toward expanding pre-kindergarten education opportunities, enacting sensible regulation on Wall Street, rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and supporting job growth across the country.

She also wants to find ways to curb growing student debt, saying it is holding back the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

"Education should lift up young people, not drag you down," Clinton said.

The annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner fundraiser broke records for both the prices of tickets and how quickly they sold out, organizers said.

More than 1,600 people paid $200 for tickets on the floor of the arena. Hundreds more sat in $15 seats.

Wanda Ashley waded through the long lines hours before Clinton took the stage.

The Little Rock Democrat was a delegate for Clinton and served as a whip at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

She said Clinton is way ahead of the competition in either party.

"She's qualified," Ashley said. "She's the best candidate overall. She has certainly, having served as secretary of state and as a senator in New York, it gives her a record of experience needed for the job."

Robert Johnston, sporting campaign buttons from Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential run, smiled when asked what he thought of Clinton's chances.

Johnston was a Fulbright scholar with Bill Clinton in 1968 and first met Hillary Clinton in 1974.

A former legislator from Little Rock and chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, Johnston said he likes Clinton's chances better than he did her husband's.

"She's at a 95 percent probability of winning the nomination and a 70 percent probability of winning the election," Johnston said. "When Bill ran in '92, I said he had a 10 percent [probability]. ... My estimates were not sound there, but I'm more firm on Hillary."

During her speech, Clinton told stories about her years in Arkansas. She also referred to her granddaughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky, who was born in September.

Republican challengers, she said, need to realize that climate change is real and will affect generations to come.

"If you ask most of these Republican candidates about that, they'll say, 'I'm sorry, I'm not a scientist.' Well then why don't they start listening to those that are scientists?" she said.

"I'm not a scientist either. I'm just a grandmother with two eyes and a brain, and I believe that we can move forward into a clean energy future. ... We'll create millions of good new jobs if we do that."

Metro on 07/19/2015