by Rick Pearson
MERRILLLVILLE, Ind.--Sen. Hillary Clinton made a final tour of Indiana on the eve of its primary contest, radiating a relaxed confidence as she told Hoosiers that after 40 years in which their state has been overflown by candidates in presidential politics, their votes now matter.
"This is your time, Indiana," she told a crowd of several hundred people at a volunteer firehouse in this Northwestern Indiana community, a ladder truck serving as a stage backdrop, its uniformed firefighters perched atop, just in front of a large American flag.
"Tomorrow is consequential," Clinton said. "Every election's important, but this one has a special significance because after what we've been through the last seven years, we know we've got to get a hold of our country."
With a renewed focus on the populist-themed rhetoric she has been using since she campaigned to victory in Ohio in early March, picking up support from white blue-collar voters along the way, the New York Democrat asked voters here to "send a signal to the hard-working people of Northwest Indiana and across this state that you actually have someone listening to you."
"I do see you. And I do hear you," she said. "I do believe that you're doing the best you can under difficult circumstances and we're going to get in there and reverse these circumstances, but in the meantime, let's provide some help along the way so you feel like you've got some leadership again."
Clinton was introduced at the firehouse by Sen. Evan Bayh, the state's Democratic senator who has turned organizing for Clinton into a mission in the Hoosier state, banking on the loyalty he has accumulated to turn into votes on Tuesday.
"We've got 24 hours to go in this campaign," he said. "Her fate is in your hands. Our nation's fate is in your hands. Our children's fate is in your hands."
Clinton has labeled opponents of her plan elitists. Today, she said Obama is "always going on TV and he's always saying, 'Well, you know, that's just like $20 (in savings).' Well, for a lot of people, $20 is something, right?"
She maintained that the savings, based on federal Department of Energy figures, is more like an average of $70. And, she cast herself as the candidate who would go after oil companies to push a tax on profits that would make up for lost federal highway construction fund revenues by suspending the gas tax.
"Some people say I'm tough," she said. "Well, you've got to be tough to go after the oil companies."
Also today, Clinton's campaign clarified that a reference she made last night to Wall Street needing to take responsibility for the nation's economic downturn in which she criticized "money brokers"--not "money grubbers" as many heard in the poor acoustics of a crowded Indiana Democratic fundraiser. The Swamp reported incorrectly that she used the term "money grubbers" and regrets the error.
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Comments
PREDICTON TIME:
Hillary will win both Indiana and North Carolina.
SHOCKER!! not really she is better than Obama.
Posted by: SD | May 5, 2008 7:19 PM
I can only hope, at this point, that Senator Clinton's pandering to the Indiana voters will not be rewarded with a victory. She has done her best to damage a fellow Democrat! That, in its self, should stop a lot of Democratic voters from voting for her!! I hope that is the case!! Go, Senator Obama, you are running a great Democratic campaign!!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | May 5, 2008 7:21 PM
Clinton isn't going after the oil companies. She's going after more American jobs slated for infrastructure! Wasn't NAFTA bad enough?!
Posted by: Hope Clintonloses | May 5, 2008 7:35 PM
Well, she finally said something I can agree with:
The fate of our nation is in your hands.
That's right, Indiana. You got the ball, shoot it correctly.
Obama 2008
Posted by: Susan | May 5, 2008 7:42 PM
Do ya know where the name 'Hoosier' originated?
There were two farmers standing on a hill looking at their herds of sheep. One farmer asked the other,,,,
Never mind.
Posted by: Native Hoosier | May 5, 2008 8:13 PM
Democrats;
Reamer is right. Here's the long version with my own cast.
Joker = America
Sgt. Hartman = Democratic Party
Leonard (Pyle) = Primary Process
M14 = RNC tool
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q3jk2om9GE
Posted by: C.Morris | May 5, 2008 8:21 PM
Here's another fine example of Hillary rewriting what others said, that will likely pass right over Indiana voters... Obama did NOT say $20, he said $30 over and over, and also said it would amount to about $70 over the summer. Hillary downsized it to make it look like Obama was trivializing it more, and then incorporated his $70 inter her speech. Never before has a candidate turned my stomach more than she. She goes against all AMerican ideals of honesty and integrity in public office.
Posted by: tony | May 5, 2008 8:45 PM
Hey Morris all I have to say is HUH???
Posted by: Scot S. Blakeley | May 5, 2008 8:52 PM
Scot,
You will figger it out, someday, being a bright guy, I'm sure.
It's like, Hartman (DNC) created Leonard (The 08 primary process), and a hopeful America, (Joker) took part in the process on good faith, but the RNC (M14) utterly destroys the whole process by exploiting the suicidal aspects of the whole affair.
You can put your own 'cast' on it. There could be a hundred variations.
For example; Who would all the guys that stayed in their bunks be?
It's just a little 'fun with movie clips'.
Posted by: C.Morris | May 5, 2008 9:11 PM
Billary Clinton: she's a Neocon dressed up in a Democratic Pantsuit
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7XXEzmzckw&feature=related
Posted by: John E | May 5, 2008 9:21 PM
apologies, I wish to correct myself. Obama said 30 cents, over and over, not $30. sorry for the typo
Posted by: tony | May 5, 2008 9:50 PM
She kinda' makes me sick. HRC a populist? I thought Bill was the one doing this sort of things with interns.
I hope both states can finally see past her campaign rhetoric & put us all of our misery.
Obama '08!
Posted by: Okie | May 6, 2008 12:46 AM
You know--the Obama bloggers are just so NASTY! i mean--she's been trashed for the outfits she had to start wearing lest she be made fun of as a middleaged politically active woman---and the villification tony engages in over the 'figures' Obama trashed her with---
WHY AREN'T THE OBAMAS THANKING HER FOR BEING SO RESTRAINED ABOUT REV. WRIGHT? FOR CHANGING THE TOPIC TO THE REAL ISSUE--THE EVIL OIL COMPANIES?
Even Swamp admitted there was an acoustics problem--they heard money grubbers not money brokers come outta Hillary's mouth---so, please. Everyone's tired.
Don't we all have the same goal in mind--how BEST to beat the Republicans?
Isn't the goal too important to let petty differenes separate us?
Posted by: People are HUMAN, aren't they? | May 6, 2008 6:48 AM