Bill touts Hillary's electability
Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 2:51 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
BETHLEHEM, PA -- Bill Clinton told voters in Northeastern Pennsylvania today that his wife is the only Democratic candidate "who can stack up against Sen. McCain on the national security issues," and that a victory in this state could pave the way to her winning the nomination.
Also, on the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, he also faced off with a heckler who claimed he had "gutted" the military as president.
Clinton was actually talking about an area where he said his wife is more conservative than President Bush -- the budget -- and he cited his own policies in his Administration. “It is true that when I was president we had four surpluses in a row for the first time in 70 years,” he said.
At that point, a man in the back of the room began shouting out at the former president, saying he “gutted the military” in office, and “showed disgust for the military. The crowd quickly drowned him out with boos, as Clinton offered a tongue-in-cheek rejoinder.
“Yeah, I gutted the military,” he said. “That’s why two former chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff are for Hillary. That’s why 34 generals and admirals are for Hillary.” Turning serious, he continued: “In every respect, military readiness was greater when I left office than it is today. The Republicans gutted the military.”
And before returning to fiscal issues, he offered a clue that he’s seen this kind of feedback before from a crowd. “You know, whenever you find somebody screaming it’s normally because they don’t have the facts on their side,” he said.
Clinton did tout his wife’s readiness to be commander-in-chief, and said she has “credibility” when she calls for removing troops “because of the enormous support she has in the military.” He said currently, the United States is “not doing them any favors” in Iraq by promising an unending commitment.
“If we do what Senator McCain says, and tell them we’re prepared to stay 100 years, than 99 years from now our great-great-grandchildren will be reading newspaper stories about how we sure wish the Iraqis would figure out how to split that oil money,” he said. “No one wants Iraq to fail. But the United States has done more than what we hired on to do, and it is time to bring our people home. That’s her position.”
Clinton also said that Hillary “asks me to talk about” ensuring that when troops do return, the country lives up to the “staggering future of responsibility to our veterans.” “She will never stand by and let us make the hideous mistake we made after Vietnam, and confuse an unpopular war with our moral obligation to the people who serve,” he said. “If you want somebody that will take care of America’s veterans, she’s the best bet for you as president of the United States.”
As he started a tour of cities in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Clinton laid out the stakes in the race, saying Pennsylvania will be key in turning things in Hillary’s favor. “The bottom line is this -- if you will give her a big victory here, she will roll through these last states. She will have more popular votes. She will be the nominee of the Democratic Party, and she will get elected president of the United States,” he said.
Ending his speech, he also touted her electability again. “She’s the only one who can stack up against Sen. McCain on the national security issues, and clearly show why the Republican economics will not work and we don’t need four more years of it,” he said. “And if you look at, I think among the states that President Bush carried twice, I believe she will carry Florida, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Ohio. That’s more than enough to win... I’m just telling you, she can win this race and we don’t want to go to all the trouble and have all these people coming into this democratic process, all this excitement, and everything, and not win. We have got to win in November.”
*** UPDATE *** RNC spokesman Alex Conant responds to Bill Clinton: “Hillary Clinton will withdraw troops from Iraq irrespective of conditions on the ground and the progress our men and women in uniform have made. Her prescription would result in al Qaeda claiming victory in the War on Terror and cede Iraq to extremists who would try and use it as a base of operation to launch attacks. Senator Clinton shifts on Iraq and inability to articulate a consistent and straightforward position seriously put into question her credibility to deal with the issue.”
