Hillary Clinton Brings Her Fighting Spirit To Montana

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Sun Apr-06-08 09:41 AM
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Hillary Clinton Brings Her Fighting Spirit To Montana

Edited on Sun Apr-06-08 10:10 AM by bigtree

Eight-year-old Alexandria Kropf holds up her sign for Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Saturday, April 5, 2008.

A crowd of over 4,000 braved 35-degree weather and 16-mph winds to see Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton court the Montana Democratic party at the Mansfield-Metcalf dinner in the Mining City Saturday.

By 2:30 p.m., a line of people sporting “Hillary for President” buttons and waving blue “Obama ’08” signs wrapped around the length of the Butte Civic Center, waiting to claim their $40 general admission seats in the center’s balcony.

The dinner is the largest annual fundraiser for the Montana Democratic Party, and the 1,400 floor-seat tickets sold out well before the two candidates confirmed they would speak at the event.

“We sold 2,000 (tickets) in the balcony in seven minutes over the Internet,” said Montana Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald. “During the next hour, we had 10,000 hits on the Web site.”

Senator Clinton led off her speech before the 4,000 people who packed the Butte Civic Center by saying that after seven years of a President that backs big business interests it was "time we had a President who stood up for all of you".

She called for all Americans to work together, commenting that "the contrasts" could not be greater between the Democrats and President Bush. Clinton added the United States "needs to do what's necessary to take back the future" and the Americans are up to the challenge.

The Democrat went on to say that the country needs a President "who is ready on day one to end the war in Iraq and keep our children safe - and someone who knows how to manage this economy and strengthen middle-class families".

Clinton says her campaign is offering real solutions to make a better future by "setting out a vision" and knowing "how to get there".

Clinton says she believes "that America's best days are ahead of us", and that future generations have the same chances to succeed in the United States.

Clinton touched on the needs of rural states like Montana, saying"when I say solutions, I mean making our government a partner with rural America...I'm committed to passing a strong Farm Bill that works for true family farms, with priorities like permanent disaster relief, strengthening country of origin labeling, renewable energy advances and rural development, including rural broadband deployment".

Touching on energy needs she called on declaring "our independence from foreign oil" and that the county has been moving in the wrong direction. Clinton said that as President she would work on the "the extraordinary work Governor Schweitzer is doing to tap our natural resources right here in Montana, including biofuels, clean coal, and wind energy".

Moving on to health care, she called for "providing universal health care because 47 million are un-insured, including more than 160,000 here in Montana... it's a national disgrace." Clinton went on to say that those happy with their insurance could keep it, but other would be able to tap into a system like the one that covers federal employees.

Among the steps that Clinton says she'll take to help better serve Indian Country, "including fully funding the Indian Health Service". She also said she'd "appoint Native Americans to key positions throughout our government" and that government-to government relations with Indian Country.

Clinton turned to the residents of Butte saying she admires the fighting spirit of the city, adding "your progress today proves you were right. I'm proud to be among people who have the courage and determination to stay in the fight, and that's the same spirit I'm bringing to this campaign".

Clinton, like Obama, spent most of her speech laying out a populist message and blasting away at the policies of Republican President George Bush, saying those policies have hurt the middle class and benefited large corporations and the wealthy.

“The overwhelming feeling that I see expressed by not just Democrats is that we stand on the cusp of a new beginning for America,” Clinton said. “If you listen closely you can almost hear it in the distance, the sound of the moving van pulling away from the White House. I think the whole world will breathe a sigh of relief when George Bush and Dick Cheney hand over those keys.”

In fact, Clinton said Republicans should apologize for the damage they’ve done — but that she’s not holding her breath.

“I don’t think that will happen,” she said. “It will be the same old Republican attack machine. It will be out there in full force. We must be ready to take them on. I’m here to let you know: I’m ready.”

Sen. Clinton's Butte speech can be downloaded here: http://www.helenair.com/audio/hillary.mp3