Former President Bill Clinton plans to speak at a re-election rally this month for Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.
The Sanchez campaign has said that Clinton will speak at the rally held at the Old Orange County Courthouse on Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.
Sanchez is in an intense battle to keep her congressional seat, opposed by Republican candidate Van Tran. According to the OC Register, Republican polls say Sanchez is a few percentage points ahead at the moment, although many national campaign followers have given Sanchez the edge from the beginning.
In a prepared statement, Sanchez said, “"I am honored to have President Bill Clinton's support. There is no one who understands the struggles our working families are facing and how we can continue to recover our economy better than President Clinton."
Sanchez and Clinton have worked together previously, as Sanchez spoke with Clinton in Santa Ana during the 2008 presidential race. Sanchez introduced Clinton at a campaign for his wife, then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The rally, held at Santa Ana College, generated more than 400 guests.
This news comes on the heels of some very controversial remarks by Sanchez. In an interview last week with Spanish television station Univision, Sanchez said that her opponent, Van Tran, was both anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant.
There were immediately accusations of racism against Sanchez, who responded by saying, “If somebody misunderstood or if I was inarticulate than I apologize for that. But for him to call me a racist is not true.”
Politics
Local, state and national politics
Van Tran however, did not think there was anything that was misunderstood.
"It is shocking for a member of Congress, a senior member of Congress, to speak in such terms," he said." She went on a racial rampage."
