Democratic women U.S. senators talk up Clinton, Ross during Charlotte visit

Three Democratic women who serve in the U.S. Senate stopped in Charlotte on Friday to press Hillary Clinton’s advantage with female voters in this key battleground state and encourage North Carolinians to add another woman to the upper chamber by electing Democrat Deborah Ross, who’s running neck-and-neck with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii cast Clinton, who previously represented New York in the U.S. Senate, as a would-be president who understands issues affecting women because she’s lived them and because she’s stood up for women for decades.

Family Leave, child care and equal pay for equal work “are not frills. They’re basic economic necessities,” Stabenow said at a news conference. “Nobody has to explain that to Hillary.”

Clinton’s connection with women is in “stark contrast,” Hirono said, with her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, who has alienated many voters – including women who traditionally vote for GOP candidates – because of comments over the years and during the campaign ridiculing some women as fat, ugly or not having the “right” body type.

“To be assessed based on what our weight is, what our hair looks like and all that,” Hirono said. “It is time for that kind of baloney to stop being part of what is actually motivating people.”

Most polls show Clinton leading Trump among female voters. But, even amid his controversial comments and tweets last week about a former Miss Universe he once called “Miss Piggy,” Trump is reaching out to women voters through new TV ads touting his plan to offer tax credits to help cover child care costs. Plus, his campaign has pointed out that many of the top jobs in Trump’s businesses have gone to women and that his campaign is also being run by a woman, Kellyanne Conway.

Clinton, who is airing her own ads targeting women voters, still has work to do to close the deal with GOP-leaning women who say they don’t trust her and millennial women – those under 35 – who may not be excited enough about her to go to the polls.

On the trust issue, Stabenow blamed the media and “the power structure” for trying to black-ball Clinton over the years because they didn’t like a woman being so outspoken on issues affecting girls and women.

“She was a woman with her own voice. She didn’t sit in the back,” Stabenow said. “The power structure has said, ‘We don’t like her. We don’t trust her. She’s an uppity woman.’... I’m glad she’s been an uppity woman willing to stand up to fight for children.”

Baldwin, speaking to millennial women who might have preferred U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, pointed out that Sanders, Clinton’s primary opponent, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., another favorite with younger voters, are now out campaigning for Clinton.

“We recognize that the issues that were debated in the Democratic primary are real and compelling, (like) the feeling that people can’t get ahead (economically), including millennials,” Baldwin said. “It is Hillary Clinton and the Democratic ticket fighting tooth and nail on those issues. They’re bringing folks together to accomplish things. ... Donald Trump, he pits people against each other.”

Friday morning, the three senators appeared at a Charlotte breakfast promoting Ross’ candidacy. They were later joined by Ross, a former state legislator from Raleigh, at a private fundraiser in Salisbury.

“We are here despite the hurricane,” Stabenow told reporters, “because we feel so strongly about Deborah Ross and her ability to win the race and work hard for North Carolinians.”

Currently, 20 women serve in the 100-member U.S. Senate. Fourteen of them are Democrats, six are Republicans.

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Democratic women U.S. senators talk up Clinton, Ross during Charlotte visit."