HRC gives closing argument in Scranton
Posted: Monday, April 21, 2008 11:16 AM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesSCRANTON, PA -- After a long weekend of campaigning, marked by a bitter back-and-forth between the candidates,
Clinton left the negativity behind as she kicked off the last full day of the primary race with a fourth stop in the northeast Pennsylvania town where she has deep roots.
The New York senator made her closing argument in the small, packed ballroom of a cultural center, entering to the now common strains of John Mellencamp's anthem "Small Town" and speaking in front of a banner that read "Scranton's behind you Hillary." She was accompanied by her mother Dorothy Rodham and her brothers Tony and Hugh Rodham, and the crowd interrupted her frequently with cheers and shouts.
"I wanted to come back the day before the primary to be with all of you and to thank you. We started this Pennsylvania campaign here in Scranton at the new high school, and we're going to bring it to victory," she said. "We need to really bear down. The last day is here and the entire world is watching. I appreciate your having my back and here's what I want you to know -- as your president, I'll have your back."
Clinton's great-grandparents settled in Scranton and her grandfather and father grew up here. She talked about the time she spent here in her youth and about her family's faith in America. "We cared about our family. We cared about our faith. We believed in working hard and we had an abiding faith in our country, an abiding faith that never ever quit," she said.
In a speech devoid of the kind of negative rhetoric the candidates used all weekend, Clinton touched on her goals of ending the war in Iraq, winning the war in Afghanistan, taking care of veterans and turning the economy around, making college affordable and achieving universal health care among other issues.
Polls show Clinton has retained her lead over Obama in a primary some analysts say she must win by double-digits, and today she thanked her supporters and volunteers and urged people to help turn out the vote. "Please, in the next 36 hours, do everything you can: convince people to go vote who say that they're not voting, take them to the polls, call your friends and neighbors, make the case for the kind of result that we desperately need in America again," she said.
Clinton did not mention Obama or McCain by name, but she did take a subtle dig at her colleague from Illinois' "Yes we can" mantra at the very end of her roughly 20-minute speech.
"Some people say that America's best days are behind us," she said to shouts of "No!" from the crowd. "Some people say 'Yes we can', but that doesn't mean we will. I believe we will, if we have the right leadership. If you stand with me I will. I will go to the White House and fight for you every single day."
