Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Former President Bill Clinton had one main message when he campaigned for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in Havre today she is the best qualified candidate to change the course of the nation. Bill Clinton said his wife has said she will be a better president than he was. “I say that in every speech,” he said. Clinton made his first of four stops in Montana today in Havre, taking the microphone in a packed house at the Montana State University-Northern gymnasium about 10:40 a.m. He also was scheduled to speak in Great Falls, Helena and Butte later today, with his wife and her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., scheduled to attend the Mansfield-Metcalf Democratic dinner in Butte Saturday. Clinton said his wife would provide policies for strong economic growth, taking the country out of the recession many economists predict will occur. “She’s got the best plan to get this economy going,” he said. Clinton said his wife is also the least likely candidate to forget the common man in the United States if she is elected. “She won’t forget what you look like,” he said. He said Hillary Clinton has plans for many areas now in a slump in the country, including helping the 1 million to 2 million Americans facing mortgage foreclosures, making it easier to get into and pay for college, and pushing for energy independence including developing clean-burning coal, biofuels and biomass and investing in energy transmission lines to make it easier to develop wind power. He also cited his wife’s plan to allow people to buy into the same health insurance plan offered to federal elected officials and employeees. “If it’s good enough for our families, it’s good enough for yours,” he said, adding that it’s “time and high time” to solve the health crisis in the United States. He also said it’s time to improve the reputation of the United States in the world: Hillary Clinton believes diplomacy is the answer, he said. He also said she believes it is time to bring the U.S. troops back from Iraq, while leaving enough special forces troops there to continue the fight on terrorism. In one area she is more conservative than the current president, he said: balancing the budget. “This is a matter of conviction for her,” he said. (See the Wednesday edition of the Havre Daily News for full coverage of Bill Clinton's visit to Havre.)
