Hillary brings out the heavy gloves
Posted: Friday, February 15, 2008 4:02 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
WARREN, Ohio -- Clinton has her boxing gloves on. The senator launched her campaign Thursday in this must-win state with a series of blistering attacks on Obama, who now leads her in the race for delegates, unlike any heard on the trail up until now.
She used several harsh, new turns of phrase to hammer home a point she began to make in the lead-up to the New Hampshire primary, arguing her opponent, known for his great oratory, is all talk and little action.
Those who wondered whether the New York senator would begin hitting her rival from Illinois hard to try to stop his momentum, seemed to get their answer here during a speech at a General Motors plant.
"Over the years you've heard plenty of promises from plenty of people in plenty of speeches and some of those speeches were probably pretty good, but speeches don't put food on the table. Speeches don't fill up your tank. Speeches don't fill your prescriptions or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night. That's the difference between me and my Democratic opponent: my opponent makes speeches. I offer solutions," she said to applause. "It is one thing to get people excited. I want to empower you. This is not about me. This is about you."
She said he promised to stand up to the special interests, but instead let the nuclear industry water down legislation he had proposed to regulate it, noting that the bill never passed -- a reference to Exelon, which has donated to Obama's political campaigns. She also hit him for voting for "Dick Cheney's energy bill."
She went on to knock Obama's healthcare plan for not covering everyone and said the union at a Maytag plant in Illinois that Obama often mentions supports her over him, because he failed to help save jobs there and said his economic policy speech yesterday showed he had copied many of her proposals, including goals for green-collar jobs and investment in infrastructure.
"Now if he would only copy my healthcare plan and provide coverage for every single American instead of standing in the way," she said. "There's a big difference between us: Speeches versus solutions, talk versus action. You know, some people may think words are change, but you and I know better. Words are cheap."
Clinton talked about being the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate manufacturing caucus, saying she managed her life "not by applause or headlines, but by whether I'm helping people."
The speech was an appeal to the working-class voters that have been among the senator's strongest supporters. It followed a haphazard, poorly organized tour of GM's Lordstown plant and was billed as a "town hall" although she did not take questions after her remarks. Her camp said the event had been misnamed and that it had been intended to be just a speech.
A focus on Ohio
The senator was joined by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. "We are unique among all the states in our diversity,” Strickland said in his introduction. “North, South, East and West, Ohio has racial, ethical (sic), cultural, religious, economic diversity like no other state. We have great manufacturing plants, large cities, small towns, wonderful agricultural areas. Ohio is a microcosm of America and because of that, when Ohio speaks on March the 4th, America will listen to what Ohio says.
“We hear a lot of talk about hope and hope is important, but I want to tell you what's even more important, having a hopeful plan for Ohio and for America and Sen. Clinton has the plans."
Clinton, whose voice sounded strained at times and who interrupted her speech at one point to cough repeatedly, echoed Strickland's words and used the occasion to mention recent endorser John Glenn.
"Ohio is the heart of it all,” Clinton said. “Ohio is where we saw the first airplane actually race the skies, where we had astronauts who explored the heavens, including my friend Sen. John Glenn. You know, it was the steel from the mills in Ohio that armed America through two world wards, put cars in our garages and built our cities and Ohio is once again at the center of it all."
She said she wanted the area, often called the Rust Belt, to become an "Opportunity Belt" that would circle Ohio and America. "I see a middle class comeback that starts right here, right now in Lordstown," she said.
While she used the last half of her remarks to slam Obama, Clinton initially focused on the economy, bashing Bush, for whom she said every day was Valentine's Day for the special interests, and talking about the importance of manufacturing jobs.
"Essentially President Bush has signed a sub-prime mortgage on America's economy," she said. "Now I know here at GM, you've had some serious challenges, but I don't think we can ever, ever in America give up on our manufacturers and our manufacturing jobs."
GM announced a new round of buyouts this week for 74,000 U.S. hourly workers after posting a nearly $39 billion loss in 2007.
The senator ticked through her policy proposals, talking about clean energy, cutting costs in the healthcare industry, taking on credit card companies, Wall Street and student loan companies and making the tax code fair.
"It is outrageous that a teacher, a nurse, an assembly line worker, a truck driver here in Ohio making $50,000 a year pays a higher tax rate than some Wall St. investment manager making $50 million a year," she said, adjusting a common line to make it a local.
When put together, the long list of whom she would take on had the ring of former rival John Edwards' populist message. Both Obama and Clinton are courting Edwards' endorsement.
She got the biggest applause for promising not to reward companies that ship jobs overseas and for promising to support labor and ran down the list of unions that have endorsed her.
"I am proud to be a pro-labor, pro-Union candidate," she said. "So when my opponent in the primary puts out a mailer, which some of you may have gotten, with all sorts of false claims about my position on NAFTA, I'm going to count on working men and women to know the truth."
Clinton repeated her call for a time out on trade agreements to determine if they work for America and said that while Obama didn't "have much experience creating jobs," she did and that she would pick up "those boxing gloves" to fight for the American people.
McCain wasn't left out. "When Sen. McCain tells you that business as usual on trade is fine and tells neighboring Michigan workers we can't bring your manufacturing jobs back to the United States, they're sending a clear message aren't they?” she said. “They do not believe America needs a strong manufacturing base. I believe a strong America cannot remain strong without a strong manufacturing base, and I intend to fight for that as your president."
