Clinton’s Plans
In introducing her, Buffett said he was eager to share “what Hillary can and will do in the eight years” after inauguration day in January 2017.
Clinton ran through the outlines of her economic platform, including more spending on the nation’s infrastructure, accelerated development of renewable energy sources and raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans while cutting rates for those in the middle class.
She pledged to support the kind of small businesses “that Donald Trump has consistently stiffed” and said that “you don’t go around bullying small businesses just because you can.” Clinton also questioned Trump’s assertion that he alone can fix the country’s problems. "I grew up in the Midwest" as the daughter of a small businessman, Clinton told the crowd, saying she learned an ethic of "we’ll fix it together" that Nebraskans also embrace.
She acknowledged that some parts of U.S. society haven’t felt the benefits of the recovery. “Too many people haven’t gotten a raise since the great crash” of 2008, she said. “There’s too much inequality and too little opportunity." The super-rich and Wall Street will start “paying their fair share,” she said.
As Clinton and Trump head into the general election, their campaigns are moving into a state-by-state contest to collect the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Nebraska is one of two states, along with Maine, to determine the apportioning of its electoral votes by congressional district as well as statewide. The rest of the states and Washington D.C. are winner-take-all.
President Barack Obama is the only candidate to have managed a split of a state’s electoral vote when he narrowly won Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District over Republican John McCain in 2008. He wasn’t able to repeat the feat in 2012. The district, which encompasses Omaha, is represented by a Democrat, Brad Ashford.
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Buffett vowed he would campaign relentlessly for Clinton to make sure she carries the district with a record turnout, saying he’s reserved a trolley to get people to the polls on election day. Clinton said that if he succeeds, and she wins, “Warren and I will dance in the streets of Omaha together. Maybe if we’re really lucky he’ll wear his Elvis costume again.”
Buffett, who’s been an Obama backer, promoted Clinton last December during her primary fight against Bernie Sanders, saying in an event in Omaha that he and Clinton share a commitment to helping the less affluent. Buffett spoke about how incomes for the wealthiest increased seven-fold over the past two decades in the U.S. as their tax rates fell.