Clinton pushes equal pay for women in SC stop + video | Island Packet

Hillary Clinton drew applause from S.C. Democratic women Wednesday, pledging to fight for equal pay for them and higher wages, adding she will “make the words ‘middle class’ mean something again.”

“Too many women still earn less than men on the job. Women of color often make even less,” Clinton said to Democratic women attending the 2015 Day in Blue in Columbia Wednesday.Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton visited Kiki's Chicken and Waffles during a visit to Columbia, Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Clinton talked with six minority women business owners discussing the challenges facing minority and women business owners and how government can make it easier for these small business owners to grow their business and create jobs.

“Then, there's the so-called motherhood penalty with many women taking a pay cut when they have children. ... For many of families, we’re talking about thousands of dollars (lost in wages) a year.”

While critics say Clinton has trouble connecting with voters, she had the Columbia crowd laughing and applauding throughout her 25-minute speech, delivered on a one-day stop in the Palmetto State, before the Democrat heads to Georgia, Florida and Texas.

"Awesome” was Bernice Scott's reaction to Clinton's speech.

Clinton "was warm" and spoke as though "talking directly to me," said Scott, a former Richland County Council member from Hopkins.

Scott said Clinton's message about equal pay for women resonated with her, a single parent. "I had to raise my kids. I had to build my house. I had to buy insurance. I had to do all those things myself. There was not a male there. So why should I make less?"

The former first lady, former U.S. senator and former secretary of state also told a story about the “middle class (she) grew up in.”

Clinton said her father ran a small business, printing fabric for drapes. She talked about how she, her mother and brothers would help him – pouring the ink on silk screens and printing the fabric using a squeegee.

Clinton blamed Republicans for standing in the way of equal pay for women, saying she would push Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act “which gives women the legal tools to fight discrimination at work.”

If elected, Clinton promised she would push for higher wages for low-income earners and wage transparency, requiring new jobs and promotions to be posted with salary ranges and large companies to report whether they are paying men and women fairly.

“You can’t stand up for equal pay if you don’t know whether you’re paid equally,” she said.

Touting an “equal pay” agenda is a smart campaign move for Clinton, reminding women and African-American voters – groups that propelled then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to his 2008 victory over Clinton in the S.C. primary – that she is an advocate for them on those issues, said Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop political scientist.

But Republicans likely will argue that equal pay and wage transparency laws would hurt businesses, he said.

While Clinton mingled with the crowd after her speech Wednesday, she slipped out a side door, guarded by police and U.S. Secret Service agents, without taking any questions from the media – continuing what has been few interactions with the press.

Earlier Wednesday, Clinton met with six minority women business owners at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles in Northeast Richland, and spoke privately with S.C. House and Senate Democrats.

In an unannounced stop, Clinton also stopped by the Main Street Bakery and Gift Shop, where she met the owners and bought some cupcakes, her campaign said in an email.

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