Hillary Clinton offered the long and short version of her closing argument to two separate crowds in Coralville Monday night, and told one questioner that years of attacks by Republican Hillary Haters are the very reason she’s the strongest Democratic candidate.
Clinton is taking a mellower tone in her late campaign. Though AFSCME’s “Turn Up The Heat” signs from the November Jefferson Jackson Dinner were on hand, the phrase did not appear in the speech. The speech is lower key, with a slower, steadier pace, no by-name attacks on the other Democrats, and relatively little partisan raw meat. In the only reference to the other Democrats, which she repeated to both crowds, Clinton said, “Each of us has a different idea of how to make change. Some people think you get change by demanding it, others think you make change by hoping for it,” she said, letting the audience fill in the blanks. “ Well I think you make change by working really, really hard for it.”
Hard work was a recurring theme. “I can’t promise you results, but I can promise you my best efforts,” she offered near the conclusion. “I’ve lived long enough to know that you learn more about a person when you see how they respond to a setback than a success,” she said earlier, discussing the 1993 health care effort. “You keep working, you keep trying, you keep working harder and harder and harder.”
“We didn’t come to Washington just to support the status quo. We tackled the problem and the problem tackled me back. But I’m proud we tried. We started the debate.” Citing government regulation of industries like banking and finance, Clinton debunked the Republican claim that her health care plan is socialized medicine “We regulate a lot of industries in America, and we’re going to give the health care industry a new business model. Ask them if they think Medicare is Socialized medicine. That kills the conversation fast.” She emphasized the need for universal coverage, which has been a bone of contention between her and Barack Obama, “I am not running for president to put band aids on our health care crisis.”
The two-crowd situation was a last minute adaptation. Fire marshals blocked the doors to Coralville’s Antique Car Museum after about 500 people were inside, with 200 people still outside. Fire officials were not persuaded by the campaign’s claim that they’d been told a higher capacity. The campaign sent the overflow crowd across the street to the Marriott Hotel. After about an hour and a half, the overflow crowd got the candidate and the short version of the speech. Both crowds got short question and answer sessions, though Clinton said the questioning was shorter than she’d hoped because of the crowd situation.
Clinton's second speech, addressing the overflow crowd that fire marshals barred from the main event.
In addition to the hard work theme, the Clinton campaign has tried to turn the electability question around and make the Hillary Haters a strength. "We need a candidate who’s ready and able to run a campaign against whatever the Republicans throw our way,” Clinton said, stressing the whatever and getting knowing laughter from the audience. She went on to explain that any Democrat will be under attack, and she’s already been attacked and is still standing.
The bulk of Clinton’s speeches focused on domestic polices and on her own background. “I’m not good at talking about myself,” she told the overflow crowd, sating that her surrogates did a better job. “I’d rather talk about the issues and the problems.” The night’s biggest applause came from her pledge to repeal No Child Left Behind. “I fundamentally disagree with turning children into little test takers and teachers into testers in chief.” Supporters at the main event occasionally punctuated the cheers with unauthorized toots on the Harpo Marx horns of the old cars.
The lengthiest Bush Bash came during the discussion of global warming and energy independence. “It is no longer acceptable that the United States of America be in a state of denial.” “I am sick of the fatalistic talk coming out of the Bush White House about what we can and cant do as Americans.” In the only direct gender reference, Clinton was discussing the need for an Apollo-like energy program to create 5 million jobs in the new energy economy. As an aside, she noted that when she was a child “I wrote a letter to NASA asking how I can be an astronaut, and they sent a letter back saying they’re not taking girls.”
Clinton’s one brief mention of the Iraq war was a pledge to “bring our troops home from Iraq as quickly and responsibly as we can,” followed by much lengthier praise of the troops and discussion of veterans health care. “When we bring them home we owe them. They deserve the health care and compensation they have earned.”
Sharon Romeo of Iowa City was in the overflow crowd at the second speech. “They gave us free hot chocolate and tea,” she said. “We weren’t outside very long.” Romeo wasn’t sold –- she’s choosing between Edwards and Obama and was attending out of “curiosity” –- but said most of the overflow crowd were solid Clinton supporters.
Taking a question on Darfur from the overflow crowd, Clinton said, “I’d go so far as to take military action against (Sudan’s) so-called air force,” and called for an UN/NATO led no fly zone over the region to stop Sudanese bombing support. Clinton also took questions at the larger event on predatory lending (“We’ve got to do something and I intend to try”) and Social Security. She repeated her proposal, made in debates, for a bipartisan commission. “Everybody’s got to hold hands and jump at the same time.” She also took benefit cuts off the table.
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