Hillary Clinton rolled out a plan to expand internet access and invest in technology Tuesday — the latest example of what the Clinton campaign argues is its habit of putting forth specific policy proposals while Republican Donald Trump relies on generalities.
Mrs. Clinton promoted her technology platform during a campaign stop in Denver amid a fight with Mr. Trump over domestic policy.
The billionaire businessman delivered his own economic speech Tuesday, but the former first lady continues to hit Mr. Trump for failing to outline a specific domestic policy platform beyond his call to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The narrative of Mrs. Clinton as the wonky policy guru contrasted with Mr. Trump as the candidate appealing to emotion and fear — a notion Mr. Trump vehemently disputes — is one the Clinton campaign clearly wants to drive home as the general election campaign heats up.
In Denver, Mrs. Clinton said Mr. Trump is wrongly promising Americans that jobs will return to the way they used to be rather than outlining a vision for the 21st century.
“I want America to get back in the future business. Saying that you want to make America ‘great again’ is code for saying, ‘We want to go back to the way it used to be. Forget about technology, forget about inclusivity, forget about giving everybody an opportunity to have a real shot at the best possible future,’” she said. “Well, that is not who we are as Americans. We don’t go back; we go forward. But we’ve got to go forward with intelligence and a real sense of purpose.”
Technology sector analysts and leaders seem to agree that Mrs. Clinton’s proposal is far ahead of Mr. Trump’s on specifics.
Mrs. Clinton’s plan would provide all Americans with high-speed internet access by 2020, forgive college debt for those who launch tech startups and aim to create Silicon Valley-style hubs “all across the country.”
She said other steps would include investments in computer science education, allowing more foreign workers to obtain visas, opening tech companies on U.S. shores and bolstering cybersecurity.
Unlike Mr. Trump, technology industry figures say, Mrs. Clinton has made specific proposals.
“The ability to grow the economy in the future will depend on a good foundation for the digital economy. This is the platform of a candidate who can be trusted to grow the economy,” said Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents workers in the industry. “Any presidential candidate can say they plan to promote job creation, but what distinguishes Clinton is her articulation of a platform to provide better-trained workers, internet access, and policies both here and with our trading partners to deliver economic growth.”
Others in the industry said Mr. Trump must release a plan with similar specifics.
“We hope that the other major candidate in the race for president will lay out his technology and innovation policy agenda as well so that voters can assess them side by side,” said Linda Moore, president of TechNet, an organization that represents CEOs in the technology sector.
Mr. Trump fired back at the Clinton campaign’s attempt to characterize him as a candidate without real domestic policy plans.
In an economic speech in Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump said he would rewrite trade deals and bring jobs back from overseas if elected president. He also said the former first lady has repeatedly chosen globalization over the needs of American workers by backing unfavorable trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of fear will try to spread the lie that these actions will start a trade war,” he said. “She has it completely backwards. Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible trade deal after another,” Mr. Trump said.
⦁ S.A. Miller contributed to this report.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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