Hillary Clinton, making her first appearance in northwest Ohio today at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza, blasted her opponent for dodging federal taxes after losing nearly a $1 billion in 1995.

"Trump's campaign is bragging that not paying taxes makes him a genius," Mrs. Clinton said. "What kind of genius loses $1 billion in a single year?"

The Democrat seeking to succeed President Obama promised to help American's bottom line while she criticized Mr. Trump for supporting a tax plan that would help himself and hike taxes on the middle class.

"Trump’s plan would cut his own taxes even more…his plan would actually raise taxes for millions of middle-class families," she said.

Mrs. Clinton's speech focused on her plan to help the middle class "I want to focus on what are called kitchen table issues, you know hat keeps you up at night," she said. "We've got to create more great jobs with rising incomes. That means we have to have good schools in every ZIP code."

PHOTO GALLERY: Hillary Clinton in Toledo

STORIFY: Coverage of Hillary Clinton in Toledo

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Before the crowd of 1,205, Mrs. Clinton delivered an economic policy speech in which she championed raising the minimum wage, paid family leave, and equal pay for women.

She said she would work to support American manufacturing and the creation of good-paying jobs.

"I want to take some of the ideas that worked when my husband was president," she said.

Mrs. Clinton, who has been criticized for her husband's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, said she opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which has been one of the trade agenda goals of the Obama administration in the U.S. 

"I oppose TPP now, I'll oppose it after the election and I'll oppose it when I'm president," she said.

She also promised to "ramp up" trade deal rules.

She criticized Mr. Trump for his reported failure to pay federal taxes. She also said there should be a law to require nominees of major parties to provide tax returns,which drew cheers from the crowd.

"Not fair," a woman in the audience shouted, as Mrs. Clinton blasted Mr. Trump for failing to pay federal taxes.

She also criticized Mr. Trump's economic policies and how he would have handled the automotive industry troubles.

"In 2009 you were in the eye of the storm -- jobs, homes, savings -- wiped out," she said, of northwest Ohio and Toledo. "At the time of the worst financial crisis in Ohio in 2009, he would have let you twist and fall."

She also gave a shout-out to Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, who spoke before she came on stage, and Toledo boxer Robert Easter, Jr., who was in the audience.

The Democratic nominee used the backdrop of Toledo’s Amtrak and Greyhound terminal to take aim at bad corporate business practices and corrupt banking systems. She complained that the U.S. tax code rewards corporations for outsourcing jobs.

Innovative entrepreneurs helped build America, she said, but "we should not and will not respect those who get rich by cheating everybody else,” she said. 

After Mrs. Clinton ended her speech, Tabitha Sanford, 33, of East Toledo joined the throngs from the overflow room who tried to move up and get a glimpse of the candidate. Ms. Sanford said despite her lack-of-view she is happy she came to hear Mrs. Clinton. She brought her four-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son because she wanted them to be part of it too.

"I waited all morning, even though I couldn't see her," she said, of the time spent in line to get in.

It was worth it, she said.

A crowd formed near the stage to try to get a moment with the candidate, who as of 2:25 pm had left the room.

Another member of the crowd, Bob Hurst, 66, of West Toledo, a 37-year retired employee of Chrysler Machining in Perrysburg, said Mrs. Clinton will be the most experienced president ever.

“I love her 30 years of experience working for the people,” Mr. Hurst said. He called her 40-minute speech “very good, very down-to-earth.”

Steven Steel, president of Toledo City Council, said Mrs. Clinton’s speech was filled with detail.

“It’s exactly what people in Toledo needed to hear - real proposals that have some substance. Her message was right on point. I’m glad she came here to deliver it,” Mr. Steel said.

Former Toledo Federation of Teachers union President Fran Lawrence, who also came to the speech, said Mrs. Clinton’s visit will have a positive effect on her electoral performance in northwest Ohio by motivating volunteers and supporters.

“A personal appearance by any candidate drives enthusiasm. It’s absolutely inspirational,” Ms. Lawrence said.

Before Mrs. Clinton took the stage, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, rallied the crowd. 

The line to hear Mrs. Clinton still stretched hundreds-deep about an hour before the event began. Supporters wore American flag shirts, carried signs, and wore pins. The line curved past the train tracks and down a side street where views of the Anthony Wayne Bridge spanned the foggy skyline.

Near the back of the line, Sharon McNeil of Monroe held a handmade sign on which she had affixed a Clinton action figure of the candidate in a blue pantsuit. Ms. McNeil, 64, said she's excited to vote for Mrs. Clinton because she's the best candidate and also because of what it would mean to have a woman as president.

"I do believe that sexism is very insidious and we don't even notice it as much," she said. "just having a woman in that powerful position... will change the mindset."

A Mrs. Clinton supporter who came out to protest Mr. Trump during his Stranahan Theater speech turned out again with a sign protesting Mr. Trump. Tom Younker of Gibsonburg showed up with the same big sign that said "Trump mocks and insults handicapped Americans."

"It's a circus with him," Mr. Younker said.

He said he was surprised he hasn't seen anyone protesting Mrs. Clinton at today's event.

Also among those waiting was LaTonia Reid, a special education teacher at Scott High School. She and a couple of teachers accompanied half a dozen students to see the campaign action first-hand.

Members of the group also went to hear Bill Clinton when he came to Toledo recently. 

The idea is to show students what's happening with the election so they don't just hear about it, Ms. Reid said.

"We want a rigorous education," she said.

The event will take place in the third-floor grand lobby. When rented out by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority for receptions it accommodates 650 seated guests, port authority spokesman Holly Kemler said.

The Democratic nominee for the presidency is trailing in Ohio political opinion polls to the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, who has appeared twice in Toledo, so far.

Lucas County Republican John Stainbrook and about 10 Trump supporters held Trump signs a block or two from the event.

Mr. Stainbrook said they wanted to show support for their candidate and questioned why it had taken Mrs. Clinton so long to visit Toledo.

"It is very perplexing that Hillary Clinton wasn't in Northwest Ohio herself until today," he said.

Matthew Cooper, 33, of Toledo said he supported Mrs. Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary but can't now because of her economic policies. He praised Mr. Trump's plan to cut corporate taxes to create jobs here in the U.S.

The Clinton campaign said she will use her speech today to “condemn an in-it-for-yourself approach that celebrates the abuse of workers and consumers as ‘good business.’

“She will offer a competing vision, with policy solutions to promote an economy where our businesses, our workers, and our consumers grow and prosper together,” a prepared campaign statement said.

The planned Clinton presentation contrasts with the latest news about Mr. Trump, who was hailed over the weekend by surrogate Rudy Giuliani as a business genius for legally avoiding paying federal income taxes for as long as 18 years, according to a story by The New York Times.

Mrs. Clinton will “call out companies like Wells Fargo, which secretly opened up millions of accounts for customers without their consent; Mylan Pharmaceuticals, which hiked up the price of lifesaving EpiPens without justification; and the practices of Donald Trump and the Trump Organization,” her campaign said.

Her proposals are to “ensure that the tax code doesn't let corporations and the superwealthy play by a different set of rules than everyone else.”

She will propose to incentivize profit-sharing and workforce training, raise the minimum wage, and mandate family leave, the campaign said.

Among her proposals will be to curb the use of fine-print "forced arbitration" clauses in contracts that prevent workers and consumers from bringing legal action.

Mrs. Clinton’s absence from Ohio since Sept. 5 has prompted speculation that Ohio is falling off the map as a critical state to Democrats.

Lucas County Chairman Joshua Hughes said that is not the case, and said Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has 400 staffers in Ohio carrying out multiple daily activities such as canvassing, phone-banking, and house parties.

“I knew that she would be here. I don’t know the particularities of her schedule in trying to touch as many communities across the country as she does. She has a much broader appeal, where Mr. Trump has narrowed his appeal to a few states,” Mr. Hughes said.

“The polls leading up to Election Day will remain close. I’m confident that at the end of the day, Secretary Clinton, who is fighting for the hardworking men and women of Ohio, unlike Mr. Trump, who hasn’t paid income tax in two decades, Ohio will go with Mrs. Clinton,” Mr. Hughes said.

As to why the local train and bus station was selected, Mr. Hughes said it had to do with the logistics of nailing down a location on short notice.

“There was a lot of heavy lifting over the weekend. It’s tough to secure the Huntington Center or SeaGate Centre on a Saturday for a Monday,” Mr. Hughes said.

Republicans have highlighted that Mrs. Clinton’s Toledo stop,  which was announced Friday but with no specifics until Sunday afternoon, comes after a sudden rash of stories about her limited campaign schedule in Ohio.

Mrs. Clinton’s next stop will be Akron, another large Ohio city that Mrs. Clinton has not yet visited in this campaign.

Those wishing to hear Mrs. Clinton can begin arriving at 11 a.m., her campaign staff said.

Staff writers Vanessa McCray and Ignazio Messina contributed to this report. 

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published October 3, 2016, 2:24 p.m.