Hillary Clinton connects with N.C. voters on experience and character

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Fri Apr-25-08 12:19 PM
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Hillary Clinton connects with N.C. voters on experience and character

Helen Currin sat on the bleachers in Methodist University�s gymnasium in Fayetteville, North Carolina, nearly 10 rows back, and looked out on the crowd below.

They were plastered with red and blue Hillary Clinton campaign stickers, standing on their feet, cheering as the senator took the stage.

Some were stargazers, wanting nothing more than to say they saw the former first lady. Some were Methodist students, amazed that a presidential candidate chose to stop at their school. Some were undecided voters, hoping to hear the words that will sway them.

And some, like Currin, were rabid Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters who believe that, even against mounting odds, their candidate is fated for the presidency.

�This is why she doesn�t quit,� Currin said, motioning toward the crowd. �She�d be letting down a lot of people.�

She is, according to Currin, a strong candidate who knows the next president will face the greatest challenge since Franklin D. Roosevelt occupied the White House.

Hendersonville resident Sharon Drake posted up outside the Asheville Civic Center at 9 a.m. to make sure she had a front row seat to hear presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speak.

�It�s important I get down in front,� the 60-year-old woman said. �To shake hands with her would be the ultimate. It would make my decade.�

Paul Orta, of Hendersonville, accompanied Drake near the entrance of the Civic Center. They waited until noon before others joined them.

Angella Bishop, of Inman, S.C., sat on a bench in front of the building with three other women. She said she watched former president Bill Clinton speak when he stomped through Asheville this year. She's excited to hear his wife�s speech.

�I think she�s going to win, and I think she�s got the most experience,� said Bishop, who made the 50-minute trip into downtown Asheville. �I think she�s eons ahead of Barack Obama in experience and character.�

Clinton, supporters say, is a candidate with solutions. She�s a tested politician with steely convictions. And she�s exceedingly candid.

At least that�s how Mike McGuinness found her. McGuinness, a lawyer from Elizabethtown who frequently represents law enforcement officers, joined 10 state troopers for a private question and answer session with the senator before she took the stage at Methodist.

He said the troopers were surprised at how directly Clinton addressed their concerns: the need for public sector collective bargaining legislation and a stronger interpretation of the First Amendment to protect whistle blowers.

�She�s not just another back-slap politician,� McGuinness said.

�The day I retired from the military, I became a third-class citizen,� one man told her during a question-and-answer session. �I just wanted to thank you for what you�re doing for the veterans.�

Fayetteville is located next to the U.S. Army�s Fort Bragg, and Clinton spent much of her time discussing the difficulties faced by veterans. Surrounded by several retired military officials, Clinton promised to bolster a broad range of veterans programs from health care and tuition assistance to home loans.

She was cheered when she mentioned the shortcomings of Tricare, the military health plan.

When troops come home, Clinton told the veterans, they deserve better medical services.

�There�s been a shameful neglect of the needs of many of our veterans,� she said.

Clinton said she would create a more seamless connection between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department to help keep veterans from falling through the cracks and to help reduce the backlog of disability claims from veterans. She also wants to create a GI Bill of Rights for the 21st century.

And the troops will need jobs, she said. Clinton supports expanding the Helmets to Hardhats program, which links veterans with jobs in construction and trade industries.

She scored points with Valerie Quick, the 46-year-old owner of a small computer business in Fayetteville and the wife of a disabled veteran.

"The Clintons did a very good job of taking care of the working man," Quick said.

As for Obama?

"I don't think he has enough experience. He doesn't have enough years behind him," she said.

Sen. Clinton reinforced her view that America needed to begin a withdrawal from Iraq and reengage in the world. But she became most passionate when speaking about the need to cut through red tape to provide care for uniformed personnel when they are deployed and when they return, both economically and medically. (http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/04/hrc_to_obama_de.html)

"You can't just use an ordinary pair of scissors," she said. "You gotta get the full heavy duty pair out, because it seems as though there is a deliberate effort to put as many roadblocks as possible in the way of our young men and women who have returned from their service to get the health care, the compensation and the other assistance to which they are entitled.

Clinton took questions from some of the audience, several of which came from military family members who were having difficulty with health care. One woman also asked Clinton if she could kiss her daughter, who had Tourette's syndrome. Clinton began speaking to the girl when she had an outburst. "Some people have that reaction to me," Clinton said, proceeding to give her a kiss.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, later, told a raucous and inspired Asheville crowd Thursday that as commander in chief she would end the war in Iraq while enacting universal health care and reviving a faltering economy.

Flanked by retired generals and with a backdrop reading �Solutions for a Strong Military,� the former first lady was repeatedly interrupted by standing ovations with thunderous applause inside the Asheville Civic Center�s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

One such outburst came with her pledge to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within 60 days of becoming president.

�We must restore our moral authority around the world. That begins by ending the war in Iraq,� she said. �I will begin withdrawing our troops, and I will tell the Iraqis they must step up.�

Some 2,500 people packed the auditorium while hundreds more couldn�t get in. Attendees waived signs reading, �Welcome Madam Future President,� �Asheville Loves Hillary� and �Rural Country = Clinton Country.�

Clinton campaigned with eight senior retired military officers, including Gen. Hugh Shelton, a native North Carolinian and the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Speaking at Methodist University, Clinton gave a 30-minute speech focused on military and economic issues.

"We need a commander-in-chief who is ready on Day One to keep our country safe, who understands that we have to manage the economy and support the middle class in America," Clinton said. "They do go hand in hand."

�We have the greatest military in the world, but it should be used as a last resort not a first resort.�

"If she has to pull the trigger, General Shelton and I know she'll pull it," Brigadier General John Watkins told a boisterous crowd in Asheville, a liberal enclave in more conservative western North Carolina. (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/25/clinton-touts-commander-in-chief-credentials/)

Native Tar Heel and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Hugh Shelton made his debut campaign appearance on behalf of Clinton saying he had a "deep and abiding concern" for members of the military.

"Few members of Congress can claim a better record on behalf of those who serve our country," Shelton said, as he stood in front of a 'Solutions for a Strong Military' banner. "Senator Clinton is the only candidate in the running for president of the United States that has the wherewithal and the leadership ability to carry America back to its rightful place."

�She understands the impact of endless commitments on our service personnel and their families,� he said. �She is the only candidate to offer a responsible plan for ending the war in Iraq.

�We need a president who will return America to its rightful place as the leader of all nations. We need to make her the next president of the United States.�

"She is the only candidate who has offered a responsible plan for bringing our troops home with honor," said Shelton, who served from 1997 until 2001 under the Clinton and Bush administrations. "She truly understands the need for a partnership with nations all around the globe � a partnership that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our troops."

Clinton never mentioned her Democratic opponent Barack Obama during her 30-minute speech or during a question-and-answer session afterward.

She did, however, take the time to chide the presumptive Republican nominee.

"I have great respect for Sen. McCain," Clinton said, "but he has the wrong ideas about where to go next in America."

A large number of people attending the campaign rally were veterans or family members of veterans. Clinton assured them that she would work for their best interests by ending the practice of stop-loss � the policy of extending a soldier's active-duty service to prevent troop shortages.

Clinton also said she wants the federal government to do more to help veterans find work, stay healthy and recover from trauma.

"As we bring them home (from Iraq), we will take care of them," she said. "There has been a shameful neglect of our veterans in recent years."

North Carolina is home to the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune and the Army's Fort Bragg, two massive installations whose troops have suffered heavy losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Clinton told an audience of several hundred people, including many military families, about her plans to improve life for veterans and said she wants to bring troops home from Iraq "as responsibly and quickly as we can."

"This will not be easy," she said. "There are no quick solutions to the dilemmas we face and the consequences that are likely to flow from whatever actions are taken."

4/24/2008
Hillary Clinton Outlines Solutions to Strengthen America�s Military
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=7299