Hillary Clinton's Faith in Democracy in Kentucky

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Mon May-19-08 10:18 AM
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Hillary Clinton's Faith in Democracy in Kentucky

LORETTO, Kentucky -- Clinton's visit to rural Marion County was the first ever by a presidential candidate, and she took part in a local tradition, dipping a bottle of Maker's Mark bourbon into a pit of red wax.

Several in the crowd wore white hats with "Clean Coal" printed on the front, and Clinton stressed the need to develop alternative energies to help wean the U.S. off its reliance on foreign oil. Kentucky, which is among the nation's top coal producers, is working to woo companies to build plants that would use "clean coal" technology.

Clinton said she's troubled that sport utility vehicles get worse gas mileage than the original Model T, which ran on ethanol.

"You know what it ran on, it ran on moonshine, it had more power and went further and had more kick than what we see in our cars today," she said. "It may be back to the future. I think Kentucky could play a leading role in that getting us organized for the biofuel future."

"I am hoping that Kentucky will send a big message to the Democratic Party and to the country," Clinton said as the crowd cheered, "that we know what kind of president we need and we know who will defeat John McCain in the fall."

Later, at a rally in Frankfort, she brandished harsher words aimed at the Republicans, particularly President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"It is tragic that we have lost so much ground because of their terrible leadership of this country. I don't know if we've had a worse president," she said, sparking the loudest reaction of the afternoon from the crowd of 350 at Kentucky State University.

FRANKFORT, KY – Clinton, Saturday, delivered her sharpest attack yet on McCain’s economic policies – saying the Arizona Senator is “laying out an agenda on the campaign trial that is nothing less than four more years of George Bush economics.” And that, as all Democrats know, is pretty bad. “I don’t know that we’ve had a worse president in American history,” Clinton said of Bush. (http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/05/17/clinton-moving-to-general-election-strategy/)

She ripped McCain’s Bush-like tax policies, saying “you really have to work hard to have a tax plan that is more tilted toward the wealthy than President Bush’s tax plan. But somehow Senator McCain has figured out a way to do it.”

She blasted his Bush-like plans to privatize Social Security – saying “that would be a disaster” – and his Bush-like disinterest in the housing crisis, saying “like President Bush, Senator McCain refused to acknowledge the home mortgage crisis until it spiraled out of control. He has spent his time blaming homeowners.”

And she lit into his Bush-like corporate agenda, saying “Senator McCain decides Americas most pressing economic priority is tax cuts for our largest corporations. I don’t know that you can be more out of touch than that.”

“Senator McCain’s economic policy boils down to this – don’t just continue driving our nation in the wrong direction, put your foot on the accelerator and gun it,” she told a cheering crowd.

“It’s hard to imagine, but Senator McCain and President Bush are like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn’t amount to a whole lot of change.”

Katelyn Jenkins got a surprise visit from Sen. Hillary Clinton on one of the biggest days of her life so far. But odds are, she didn’t even notice. (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/05/18/baby-gets-baptised-with-a-visit-from-clinton/)

The eight-week-old girl was getting baptised on Sunday morning at the State Street United Methodist Church, where the Democratic presidential contender paused in her campaigning to attend services.

At the sight of the former first lady, the baby’s father said: “I was pleasantly surprised and amazed.”

As for the red-haired baby in her father’s arms, she slept a bit, looked around a bit and fussed a bit.

“She just knew there was a big crowd, and everyone was looking at her,” said the baby’s father, adding that he was ”possibly” a Clinton supporter.

MAYFIELD, Ky. - Take a vote from the crowd that turned out in Mayfield Sunday and Senator Hillary Clinton would be the next president. She got a spirited welcome from about 600 supporters outside the Chamber of Commerce Sunday afternoon.

This was clearly a unify the party speech. She mentioned Barack Obama only briefly. President Bush was the target.

Sen. Clinton wants to give Americans a $10,000 tax rebate for buying fuel efficient cars, slash the tax cuts enjoyed by big oil companies and take anti-trust action against OPEC. She also mentioned a gas tax holiday for Americans.

Clinton spoke about her universal healthcare plan in which every American could opt for a plan similar to what those in Congress receive.

She also promised to abolish No Child Left Behind. She spoke about doubling the tax credit for college students, expanding Pell grants, and getting rid of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Another topic that gained cheers and applause, Clinton's promise to come up with a plan to start bringing troops home from Iraq in 60 days of her taking office.

Saying the region had a “special place” in the heart of the Clinton family, Hillary Clinton told a large crowd here that she’s waging this campaign for people like them, not the pundits on TV.(http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/18/1036863.aspx)

“There were some folks who didn’t want Kentucky to vote,” she said. “There are some folks, you can see them on TV every night, who wanted it to be over for me after Iowa. And every time they say it, something funny happens. The voters don’t agree.”

She said these talking heads are “talking at us instead of with us,” and that they don’t have as much at stake in the election.

“I would bet every single one of those folks, they’ve got a job; we can see that. They’ve got good health care; we know that. They can pay whatever the charge is at the gas pump most likely. They can send their child to college. I’m not running to represent them, I’m running to fight for you and to be your champion.”

"And so what I'm hopin', what I am hoping is that on Tuesday you're going to send a real message to a lot of those folks who didn't want you to vote, who don't want me to keep fighting for you and fighting for our country. (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/clinton-not-run.html)

Clinton continued to say the media was opposed to more democracy in this country.

" . . . you know what always strikes me as a little bit curious is that most of the folks who are saying 'end it' seem to -- they don't seem to have much faith in democracy. We want more democracy not less democracy. More people involved," she said. "Every one of them always seems to be talkin' at us instead of with us," she said.

Clinton (said) earlier in her speech that shipping jobs overseas was "unpatriotic." "we’ve got to take out of our tax code one penny of benefits so there nothing left for any company that moves a job out of Kentucky to a foreign country– that is unpatriotic."

Senator Clinton spent the majority of her speech highlighting eights years of experience in the White House and saying that she was the right candidate for the job.

"Some people criticize the 1990's and it always bewilders me, I wonder what part didn't they like, the peace or the prosperity," said Clinton.

Clinton also spoke about the ever rising gas prices, and what she calls an inappropriate relationship between President Bush and leaders in Saudi Arabia.

"I'll tell you one thing if I'm your President you won't see me holding hands with the Saudi's you'll see me holding them accountable and moving toward a better energy future," said Clinton.

“Yesterday the president was in Saudi Arabia, asking the Saudis, ‘Please, please help us. Produce more oil or sell it at a lower price.’ That is not an energy policy,” declared Clinton at an outdoor rally. Her delivery turned from passion to anger as she clutched the microphone and jabbed her finger into the air.

“Frankly I find that embarrassing that the President of the United States would go over to Saudi Arabia and beg for their help!”

While the crowd of several hundred responded with a roar, Clinton’s temperature continued to rise.

“We’re more dependent on foreign oil today than we were on 9/11. And I’m a senator from New York, so I take that very personally. Because you’ll remember most of those hijackers were from where? Saudi Arabia, right? So here we are - more dependent. We’ve done nothing while George Bush has been president!”

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky -- More than a thousand people came to Western Kentucky University’s south lawn to hear Clinton speak.

It took nearly a half hour to get through the line of supporters who were wearing their Clinton T-shirts and pins and carrying Clinton signs. Clinton spoke for about 45 minutes. Several hundred more were turned away from the rally area because they wouldn’t be able to clear security in time. They listened to Clinton speak from areas outside of the formal rally.

The next president of the United States has to be ready to work on the first day, Clinton said.

“Once you get into the White House, the speeches are over and the cameras aren’t there. At that point you have to start making decisions.”

Clinton said if elected president she would raise the tax rate for those making more than $250,000 back to the levels of the 1990s. She would also eliminate tax loopholes for the rich and for companies moving factories outside of the United States.

She would use that money to finance a tax cut for the middle class, she said.

“It’s not right that all the economic benefits of the last seven years have disproportionately benefited the wealthy,” Clinton said. “Ninety-five percent of economic growth has gone to 10 percent of the population.”

Clinton encouraged her Kentucky supporters to vote in the upcoming primary, saying Sunday, "If we get everybody turned out, it's going to send a great message to our country that you don't stop democracy in its tracks."

"You don't tell some states that they can't vote and other states that have already had the opportunity that they're somehow more important," she said.

In considering who to vote for, she told the crowd to "think about this as a hiring decision."

"Come out and vote for me on Tuesday, I'll work my heart out for you," she said.

from the WSJ: (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/18/clinton-carries-on-at-ohio-fundraiser/?mod=WSJBlog)

FORT MITCHELL, Kentucky -- At a backyard fund-raiser in the Cincinnati suburbs Sunday evening, Sen. Hillary Clinton offered an abbreviated version of the pitch she’s making to the superdelegates, the group of elected officials and Democratic Party insiders whose support is crucial to keeping her chances of winning the nomination alive.

“This race is still too close to call. We’re still coming around the home stretch. We do not have a nominee,” the New York senator said. “What we have is a very close contest where I’m leading in the popular vote, where my opponent has an advantage in the delegates, but where, ultimately, the decision must rest on who can win. We did not go through such a long and vigorous campaign to see four more years of Republican leadership in the White House.”

Donors gave some $150,000 at the backyard event in Fort Mitchell, a northern Kentucky suburb of Cincinnati. Roughly 130 people gathered behind the home of Nathan and Mary Lee Smith, where the senator made a brief speech as onlookers snapped pictures on their cellphones and digital cameras.

Thanking the group, Clinton said, “I appreciate everything you’ve done. And we’ve been extremely successful tonight. And it has been challenging because I have raised more money than anybody who has run for president, except my opponent.” She added: “It’s embarrassing how much money the two of us have raised. But it’s so expensive to run such a vigorous, contested election for as long as we have. So you are enormously benefiting me tonight. To be able to keep carrying our message through this election and on to Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota, also on to making sure that we seat Michigan and Florida.”

Though Smith — the vice chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party and a superdelegate — and his wife played host to the event, he hasn’t committed to supporting Clinton. Smith alluded to the situation in the introduction she gave the candidate, saying she has fielded numerous calls seeking to sway her husband to commit to Sen. Barack Obama.

“When he called just a few minutes ago I said, ‘He’s in the backyard with Hillary. Don’t bother calling back,” Smith said. “If you think the pressure from her opponent has been intense, it’s nothing like the pressure from me. I just told him, ‘You either cast your superdelegate vote for Sen. Clinton, or the locks on the doors get changed.’”