Hillary Clinton Delighting Democrats from North Dakota to Oregon

bigtree

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sat Apr-05-08 06:51 PM
Original message

Hillary Clinton Delighting Democrats from North Dakota to Oregon

Edited on Sat Apr-05-08 07:04 PM by bigtree

Sen. Hillary Clinton invoked the aid her husband and his FEMA director offered to flood-stricken Grand Forks, to the delight of a roaring late night crowd in North Dakota's Alerus Center.

�It�s especially moving to me to know how this community has come back from the devastating floods of 1997,� she said, adding that it was too bad New Orleans didn�t have the same competent partners in recovery, she said, criticizing President Bush and his FEMA director.

The Bush presidency, she said, hasn�t tried to help with the country�s problems, instead, �used fear to divide us and pessimism to discourage us.�

�Since when did American become the can�t do nation? Let�s start acting like Americans again,� she said, as some in the crowd chanted, �Hillary, Hillary!� �

She called it �a great honor for me to be here with all of you and it is exciting to be a North Dakota Democrat right now,� as the audience cheered.

She called the assembled thousands �this amazing crowd� and added, �I didn�t know there were this many Democrats in North Dakota.�

In a rare event, Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton converged on Grand Forks within hours of each other, signaling the intensity of the national contest and giving North Dakotans, who frequently feel left out of national debates, a welcome sense of civic pride.

"The Fighting Sioux, the little I know about them, they never give up. It is exciting to be a North Dakota Democrat right now," she told the crowd. "You see, I believe the American people need a fighter," she said. "A fighter in the White House who doesn't give up when the going is tough."

Recalling the devastating floods that hit Grand Forks in 1997, Sen. Clinton mentioned the work of her husband, Bill, who came to Grand Forks and pledged federal support to rebuild. "You had a partner in the White House. You had a president who put your families first, you had a FEMA director who actually knew something about natural disasters," she said.

Clinton criticized the Bush administration for putting "corporate special interests first and hard working families last," through tax cuts for billionaires and no-bid contracts.

Clinton gave no indication she was considering suggestions that she abandon her campaign as she trails Obama in the overall delegate count. "I know what's it like to stumble. I know what its like to get knocked down, But I don't stay down," she said.

Clinton told the delegates: "I would be honored to have your support. I would be privileged to stand with you. I would be ecstatic to campaign across this state in the fall."

In a 50-minute address, Clinton listed a number of domestic policy initiatives she said she would pursue, from the promotion of renewable energy to encouragement of the provision of high-speed Internet access in rural areas.

"I will be a creative, innovative developer of rural America," she said.

She said she supported including a permanent disaster fund within the new federal farm bill, a provision that North Dakota's congressional delegation supports.

�It�s especially moving to know that this city has come back from the Flood of 1997,� she said. �(That flood) brought out the true grit and resilience in all of you � and you had a partner in the White House.�

Comparing the Red River Valley flood to 2005�s Hurricane Katrina, she asked the audience, �wouldn�t it be nice� to have a president who kept a promise to clean up after natural disasters and had a competent director of FEMA.

In the minutes before she arrived, spectators did the wave with Hillary signs, running down one end of the stadium seating and up the other.

Floating in the sea of blue Hillary signs was one woman with a green sign and the magic-markered words �Bill for First Lady.� When the overhead TV monitor focused on the sign, spectators burst into laughter and applause, and the woman flipped the sign over, where it read �Hillary or Bust.�

After her 50-minute speech, Clinton fought for support on her way out too, spending more than 20 minutes passing through the crowd, shaking hands and posing with supporters for several dozen photos. Clinton remained by the stage until nearly 10 p.m.

Perhaps one of the most passionate Clinton supporters in the audience Friday night was Deb Frey, who spent 25 years teaching blind and poor-sighted children in Moorhead and volunteering for local Democrats, but never opened her pocketbook for a national candidate until this election.

Frey said she�s admired Clinton for a long time, and when she retired from teaching, one of biggest plans was to volunteer for her campaign. Frey sat in the front row during Clinton�s speech holding two large signs she had made in Fargo last night.

The signs, adapted from a Maya Angelou poem about Clinton, sometimes blocking out her face, so only her two hands hanging over their tops were visible, read �Rise Hillary Rise, and Our USA Will Rise Too.�

Democrat Hillary Clinton launched her Oregon campaign today by vowing to be in the race through the May 20 primary.

�One thing you know about me is that I don�t quit,� she told a cheering crowd of 3,000 packed into the Liberty High School gymnasium.

Thousands waited outside, or were diverted into the cafeteria, as the New York senator launched her Oregon campaign. She gave a 45-minute stump speech, then took a few questions from the audience.

She also made a point of nodding to Oregon-centric issues, dedicating a portion of her speech to her opposition to siting floating terminals for storage and delivery of natural gas on or near the Oregon Coast � an issue on which she differs somewhat with her highest-profile supporter in Oregon, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who introduced her.

Clinton told the crowd she was fighting one such proposal terminal in Long Island Sound, between New York and Connecticut; Kulongoski, though he has asked federal regulators to study all alternatives to supplying natural gas to Oregon, has said that the state's energy portfolio could benefit from the addition of natural gas.

Clinton also drew on Oregon's reputation as an environmentally aware state, saying the state was a role model for several of her priorities, via its growing wind power industry and its reputation for energy efficient building projects. She promised investments in "green manufacturing," and said such new programs would be partially paid for by removing tax subsidies for big oil companies.

But some of the audience's biggest cheers were reserved for national issues, like her promise to end No Child Left Behind, the education accountability initiative promoted by the Bush administration, and her statement that if elected, she'd hope to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within two months.

She touched on a number of issues, later, in Eugene, including her proposal for a $50 billion investment fund for development of alternatives to fossil fuels and greater energy efficiency. She would pay for it by ending tax breaks for big oil companies.

�I think we�ve had enough of false speeches and promises,� she said. �We need results.�

The "dangerous experiment" of the Bush administration is coming to an end, Clinton says, so now it's time -- well past time -- to get back to fiscal responsibility. It starts, she says, with a declaration of energy independence -- "I'd actually like to see us write it out and have every American sign it."

But it's the economy that takes center stage today in the South Eugene High School auditorium. "Let's get back to an economy that doesn't just work for the wealthy and well-connected.... I have nothing against rich people," Clinton says, eliciting a hearty laugh from her audience now that she's released her tax returns. "I mean, God bless them. But it isn't rich people who built America."

The biggest cheer of the day roars up, enveloping Senator Clinton.