Hillary Clinton Makes Campaign Stops In Pittsburgh

rodeodance

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Sat Mar-15-08 09:53 AM
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Hillary Clinton Makes Campaign Stops In Pittsburgh

Edited on Sat Mar-15-08 10:52 AM by rodeodance

Hillary Clinton Makes Campaign Stops In Pittsburgh

"How many of you have college debt you're paying right now?" New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last night asked the crowd of thousands in the Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum and Memorial.

Scores of hands went up in the audience in front of her, and one particularly prominent one sparked laughter as it rose amid the VIPs flanking her on the grand Oakland stage.

With a broad smile, Mrs. Clinton noticed Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who had just endorsed her Democratic presidential candidacy.

"If you're the youngest mayor in America, you probably do have college debt," she observed. "Well, here's an offer that the mayor might be able to take advantage of. If you're willing to do public service, mayor, like teaching or nursing or law enforcement -- or mayoring -- we will forgive your debt over a period of years."

"We need to rebuild the relationship between our president and our people," she said. "The best way for you to think about this is who would you hire for this job?"

That sparked chants of "Hill-a-ry, Hill-a-ry, Hill-a-ry," as she ticked off a list of priorities for her administration.

Mrs. Clinton lingered long after the rally's formal close, signing campaign signs and other memorabilia for a mixed but mostly female crowd that pressed toward the stage. Many came away laughing and yelling in triumph as they displayed the trophy of her signature.

Earlier, Clinton stopped in the city�s Bloomville section for her energy-related meeting with reporters, held in the service bay of a gas station.

After meeting with the station�s owner and a woman who recounted the impact or rising gas prices on her life, Clinton discussed her own ideas on energy. She said that the average Pennsylvania spends $2,000 more per year than in 2001, when President Bush took office, as the result of higher energy prices.

�We have to move toward energy independence in order to have control over our own destiny and to get prices down,� she said.

Clinton said that she would use targeted investments of $150 billion by the federal government to encourage the shift to alternate energy sources and would increase fuel-economy standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030. Obama has made similar proposals.

Those moves would have little impact in the short run. To impact the market now, Clinton said that the government should stop putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve � and should consider releasing some of what is already there.

At the gas station, Clinton also belittled Bush�s recent, unsuccessful attempt to get the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production.

�I will not be a president who holds hands with the Saudis,� she said. �I will hold the Saudis accountable.�

"I don't think a Democrat can win the White House without winning Pennsylvania," Senator Clinton told KDKA. "So, for me, this is the keystone state and I'm going to work very, very hard to do as well as I can in the Primary."

She also said that she knows the race between her and Senator Barack Obama is very close.

"We're running based on the differences in our records and our qualifications and on issues and that's the way it should be," she added. "Obviously, I'm a woman and he's an African-American, but we're running as individuals with our respective positions and what we're offering the people of Pennsylvania."