Watch CBS News

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine kick off battleground bus tour

Battleground state campaigning
Clinton and Kaine tout economic agenda in the rust belt 29:47

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine hit the road on their first campaign swing together on Friday in a brand new campaign bus, emblazoned with their campaign's slogan: "Stronger Together." The new bus is painted a bright, royal blue, but its route this weekend runs through an area of red.

"This is the part of the campaign I really like," Kaine said at a joint rally in Philadelphia, the unofficial kickoff of the tour. "I don't like wearing a tie that much. I'd rather just go out and pound the pavement."

Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine hold post-convention rally 28:10

Over the course of three days, Clinton and Kaine will cover more than 600 miles across Republican-leaning Western Pennsylvania and Eastern and Central Ohio, tailed by a second bus carrying staffers, their Secret Service details and three busloads of reporters and television producers. Their focus will be on their jobs plan, and wooing middle class, white Americans in manufacturing communities.

It's these voters that could help carry Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to victory in November.

"We're going to be visiting a few places where people are making things," Clinton said. "I find it highly amusing that Donald Trump talks about 'Make America Great Again.' He doesn't make a thing in America -- except bankruptcies."

At their second stop on Friday, a visit to a K'NEX toy factory in Hatfield, Pa., Clinton went further, ticking through examples of Trump "ruining" small businesses that provided materials or other services for his organization.

"I met the man who installed the glass in one of his casinos," she said, explaining that Trump's organization then refused to pay the company in full for its work. "What do you mean you're not going to pay?"

It's an attack on Trump that Clinton and her running mate are likely to repeat as they make their way across the two states, which are both expected to be important battleground states in the general election. They will also cast Trump as an outsourcer who hasn't -- and won't -- invest in American jobs.

"We don't resent success in America," she said, "but we do resent people who take advantage of others in order to line their own pockets."

Full Speech: Hillary Clinton delivers DNC remarks, accepts nomination 01:04:33

In her remarks at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night, when she formally accepted her party's nomination for president, Clinton made it clear that she's not only trying to reach Democrats and progressives, but independents and unhappy Republicans, too. Two Republicans -- one a former Reagan administration official and one who founded a group for Republican women voting for Clinton -- spoke earlier in the evening about their decision to support her.

"I will be a President for Democrats, Republicans, and independents," Clinton said on Thursday night. "For those who vote for me and those who don't. For all Americans."

On Saturday, Clinton and Kaine will visit Johnstown Wire Technologies in Cambria County before holding public rallies in Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio. Kaine, in his role as Clinton's No. 2, has proven that he's unafraid to go after Trump. But perhaps more importantly, since Clinton has not shied away from attacking him herself, Kaine has already started to vouch for Clinton's character on the campaign trail.

In Philadelphia, Kaine had just started to talk about Clinton's trustworthiness when he was interrupted by someone in the crowd, yelling, "I trust her!"

Clinton and Kaine will then have events in Cleveland and Columbus on Sunday, and continue to frame their vision in contrast with the one that Trump presented at the Republican National Convention last week.

"If you're looking for a kind of pessimistic, downbeat vision of America, we're not your folks," Clinton said. "We do not buy into that dark, divisive image."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.