by Rick Pearson
SIOUX CITY, Iowa—Bill Clinton joined his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for Labor Day presidential campaigning in the nation's first caucus state today and billed the former First Lady as an experienced consensus-builder who can work with Republicans to achieve change.
Speaking to hundreds of union members at a labor picnic at Riverside Park along the banks of the Big Sioux River across from South Dakota, the former president and the current New York senator and Democratic presidential candidate also stressed her experience as putting her above the rest of her rivals in marking the unofficial start of the campaign season.
"The decision that America has to make in this election is whether we're going to take a different course. You almost have to restart the 21st Century," the former president said.
"We're back where money has too much influence and labor has too little influence," he said. "We cannot rebuild the standing of this country unless we restore the middle class."
The former president noted that with Democrats nine senators short of the 60 needed to advance legislation, the next president will have to find consensus with Republicans in Congress. This plea for consensus-building clearly is intended to combat the charges of Democratic rivals that Hillary Clinton is unelectable and polarizing, and that her nomination in 2008 would only serve to energize Republicans.
"She can work with Republicans to get things done and that's really important," Bill Clinton said. "We have got to find a way to reach out to the moderate Republcians and make common cause if we want to do anything about health care and energy."
Hillary Clinton said she has worked in the Senate to try "finding common ground with Republicans every chance I could and standing my ground and standing my principles when I couldn't."
The former First Lady said she would use her presidency to restore America's standing in the world, utilizing her husband and leaders in both parties to travel and tell people "America is back and we're going to work as hard as we can."
The former president noted that "there was a time it didn't make a flip to the American voters what the rest of the world thought of us" and who it voted in as president.
"I hope we're disabused of that now," he said. "President Bush has shown us what happens if we tell people it's our way or the highway."
Throughout her talk, the New York senator stressed that voters should consider who they believe "has the right mix of experience and qualifications to make the changes America desperately needs."
Though she initially tried to downplay her gender in seeking to become the nation's first woman president, she also acknowledged that her candidacy has made her a role model to some.
"Let's look at the person's qualifications, experiences, ideas and visions," Hillary Clinton said. "Let's look to see who has been at this with results for a long period of time. Let's make sure that we elect the best person to be our president.
"But also isn't it exciting that we have young boys and girls being brought to meet me and very often I hear a mother or father bend over and whisper to their daughter, 'See, honey, you can be anything you want to be.'"
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Comments
Late night snark....
"Ted Nugent was giving a concert and he held up a machine gun and made veiled threats about Hillary and Barack Obama. I find this shocking. Ted Nugent still has concerts?" --Bill Maher
"The Iowa straw poll, a quadrennial ritual for Republican candidates, was held Saturday in Ames, Iowa. And the big winner of this unofficial, preseason survey of the Iowa electorate? Former Massachusetts Governor/part-time J.C. Penny catalogue underwear model Mitt Romney with over 30% of the vote." --Jon Stewart
"For those of you who still care, what exactly is the Iowa straw poll? [on screen: a political science prof. explaining that GOP candidates tend to pay the $35 ticket fee for voters in hopes they will come out and support them]. So, it's an election with no Democrats, in one of the whitest states in the union, where rich candidates pay $35 for your vote. Or, as the Republicans call it, 'Our vision for the future.'" --Jon Stewart
"Rudy has used the words 'Islamic terrorism' so many times, the phrase 'September 11th' is starting to get jealous." --Stephen Colbert
"Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was asked to explain why none of his five sons are in the military and he said that his sons demonstrate their patriotism by going on the road and campaigning for him. Now there's a tough choice: Iraq, or Iowa?? "Fallujah or Cedar Rapids? Honey, what do you think?" --Jay Leno
"The big story in Washington D.C. . . . not the war in Iraq, not Alberto Gonzales lying to Congress, not healthcare . . . the big story everyone is talking about, Hillary Clinton showing a little cleavage. It's amazing isn't it? The United States is 231 years old, but apparently the media is only 13." --Jay Leno
"Earlier today, Fred Thompson who is a former star of Law & Order, confirmed with his supporters that he is running for president. Afterwards, Thompson promised to solve the crisis in Iraq by the end of the episode." --Conan O'Brien
Posted by: John E | September 3, 2007 2:06 PM
The Clintons spoke to "hundreds of union members." Wow, what a crowd. Those Clintons really draw them out. Hope they didn't have to move it to the Sioux City football stadium. Well, better luck next time. Oh, and in case anyone believes that a person named LaTrice cannot put two sentences together without a ghost writer, I'll be at the Starbuck's at Clybourne and Division, next to Cabrini Green at 10 tomorrow morning with my academic credentials to compare with yours.
Posted by: LaTrice | September 3, 2007 3:07 PM
La Trice,
Bring your box of 64 & try to stay within the lines.
Posted by: La Salle | September 3, 2007 7:12 PM
Thanks "La Trice" aka RNC Bruce.
Posted by: John E | September 3, 2007 10:08 PM
Wow, the "independent best woman ever" Hillary Rodham STILL cannot have ANY success WITHOUT her husband leading the way!! She's a true mentor for any woman looking to make it their own! By the way, for the past six years these two spent perhaps five days together and now they are inseparable. Gee, I wonder why??
Posted by: John D | September 3, 2007 10:42 PM
She can work with Republicans to get things done,and that's really important,said Bill Clinton.
...Uhhh,like her failed 1993(socialist) HillaryCare Program! It looks like Ol' B.J. finally learned to inhale.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | September 3, 2007 11:03 PM
Wish I was there. Two very inspiring people!!
Clinton in 2008!!!
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | September 4, 2007 12:18 AM
Let's see...she said "changes America desperately needs". I hope that wouldn't be a return to the kind of foreign policy her husband had where America was weak and the laughing stock of the rest of the world. Gee, it's really too bad that they don't like Bush or a strong America that doesn't have to wait for the UN to actually make a decision in our own self interests. It was really a darn shame that Bush actually did something about Afghanistan and Iraq instead of wasting all that time in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti. But hey...I know you leftist voters really love how cute the Clintons are so I know I am wasting my breath.
Posted by: Emerson Bolen | September 4, 2007 12:39 AM
Emerson Bolen,
"Laughing stock of the world."
That is simply not true. America's approval ratings around the world were excellent while Bill Clinton was president. When Clinton left office on '01 his approval ratings were in the 60+% range and the country had a budget surplus. Compare that to Bush's poll numbers and budget defecit.
You get to have your own opinion, but not your own facts.
Posted by: Doug Zook | September 4, 2007 8:33 AM
Look at Emerson still trying to make some connection between Iraq and 9/11. You can lead a fool to the truth.......
Posted by: bill r. | September 4, 2007 9:12 AM
"moderate Republcians"? We know Swamp reporters don't care about Republicans, but at least they should be smart enough to spell "Republicans" correctly ...
The same Swamp reporters who bash obscure Republican candidates for their spelling should hold themselves to the same standards.
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is golly-gee "shocked" to discover that his wife's megabucks fundraiser Norm Hsu is a wanted fugitive. Reminds me of that famous scene in Casablanca where the police inspector (played by Claud Rains) professes to be "shocked" to discover gambling at Bogart's nightclub--while pocketing his share of the take.
Posted by: Bruce | September 4, 2007 9:29 AM
Wish I was there. Two very inspiring people!!
Clinton in 2008!!!
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | September 4, 2007 12:18 AM
I have one word to say for all union, power to the worker, Clinton supporters...
NAFTA
A Clinton initiative, where even his admin stated wages would go up in Mexico but down in the US over time.
Say, how may IT jobs have been lost to India because of the Telecom Act of '96? And how many jobs lost (and wealth) to a failed economic policy (dot.com bubble) that crashed in spring 2000? Say, didn't Enron do all their shady dealings during the years of the Clinton Administration (the company just happened to implode 7 months after Bush took office).
Posted by: Bone | September 4, 2007 11:59 AM
Obama's problem is that America doesn't really what change. It says it wants change, but no one really wants change. We fear change. We prefer the status quo. Change is for people who push the envelope and eventually, at the speed of a glacier, we move in that direction.
Consider Elvis Presley. He wasn't radical change. In fact, he objected to the Beatles and championed Richard Nixon. Think about that. The "King of Rock 'n' Roll" championed Richard Nixon. That's the kind of "rock 'n' roll" America loved.
America adored Presley, and many still act like he's living at Graceland. Which further proves, Americans don't like change. Many can't even let go of Elvis.
Posted by: Bud McFarlin | September 4, 2007 10:54 PM