Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Former President Bill Clinton thrilled a crowd filling the Montana State University-Northern gymnasium in Havre Tuesday while he presented his case on why he believes his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is the best choice for the next president of the United States. Bill Clinton said people might think they should discount half of what he says when he is campaigning for her thinking he has to be nice so he can go home every night. “And there is some truth to that,” he said jokingly. But, he said, he strongly believes Hillary Clinton is the best candidate, saying he believes the country would do even better economically and diplomatically under her leadership than it did under his two terms as president. “I say that in every speech,” he said. In his speech Bill Clinton made several references to Montana and even to Havre. “I can see why you say, Havre has it,’” was his first remark to the crowd of close to 3,000. People had been standing in line in the freezing temperatures since 7 a.m. The doors were opened at 9:20 a.m., ahead of the 9:45 a. m. scheduled opening, with Clinton taking the podium at about 10:40 a.m. Montana Sen. Kim Hansen, D-Harlem, introduced Clinton. “This is a wonderful time to be a Democrat but it’s not an easy time,” he said, adding that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are wonderful candidates, but now the Democrats must choose which will be their nominee. Hansen said he is backing Clinton. “I believe she is the best candidate for our nation and our party,” he said. “We need a leader who is battle-tested.” Bill Clinton talked extensively about his wife’s experience and leadership as well as her plans if elected president. People seem to be equating experience as being opposed to change American politics is probably the only place where that would happen, he said. Clinton said that when he underwent heart surgery a few years ago, he wanted a doctor and hospital with experience, and Americans should want the same in a president. Clinton listed his wife’s experience and actions in law school, when she first got out of law school, during his tenure as governor of Arkansas and her work as a U.S. senator to show her experience and to back up some of her plans if elected president. He started by listing four key issues of his wife’s campaign: her plans to revitalize the U.S. economy, her abilities as commander-in-chief and diplomat- in-chief, her ability to make change, and her plans to improve the future for U.S. citizens. The campaign is not about who is the most historic candidate, Clinton said, its about who will bring the best future. “That’s what counts,” he said. One key is making sure the next president doesn’t become isolated from the American people, Clinton said. He said Hillary Clinton is the least likely to let that happen. “She won’t forget what you look like,” Bill Clinton said. He said that “it’s a rush” to be president, to have “Hail to the Chief” played whenever walking into a room, to live in the White House, “America’s finest public housing,” and to travel on Air Force One “your airplane is so cool they make movies about it.” But, he said, the president has to keep everything in perspective. “The president is nothng more than the most fortunate public servant in the world, nothing more,” he said. Clinton said there is one area where his wife is more conservative than President Bush. “I have to make full disclosure,” he said. “It’s the budget. She thinks these deficits are nuts.” He said that since President Bush has taken office, the nation’s government has gone back to using trickledown economics, with a result of declining incomes after inflation, more people dropping into a middleor low-income status, the nation apparently sliding into or already in a recession. Eliminating deficit spending and Turning the economy around is a matter of conviction for Hillary Clinton, her husband said. “If you don’t want that, you better vote for somebody else,” Bill Clinton said. He also said making sure everyone in the country has health insurance and access to medical care in rural areas is also one of his wife’s main goals. Her plan is to allow access to the same health insurance available to federal elected officials and administrators, Clinton said. “If it’s good enough for our family it’s good enough for yours,” he said. One of the benefits will be reducing paperwork. With the complicated issues in health insurance, including differences in state regulations and between different companies, 30 cents of every insurance dollar is spent on paperwork, Clinton said. “Einstein couldn’t figure it out,” he added. Having a single provider could solve much of that expense, he said: Medicare spends 3 cents of every dollar on paperwork. “That’s a big difference, isn’t it?” he said. He said another goal is to get the U.S. soldiers out of Iraq, equating helping the country to letting a neighbor whose house burned stay on your couch. A month or two is fine, and most people would be happy to help. Five years is something else, he said. “It’s not about the fire any more and it’s time to get off the couch,” he said. But, he added, there was one thing his wife wanted him to say. She won’t forget the U.S. soldiers when they return, even if they did fight in an unpopular war. “She won’t forget those veterans,” Clinton said. Hillary Clinton will also try to improve the United States’ image in the world, he said. “America is back, we are back in the cooperation business, that’s the message she wants to send,” he said. Another area she will support is the development of alternative fuels and alternative energy to create energy independence for the United States, Clinton said. He added that energy independence is crucial to economic success for any country and should be of special interest in Montana. “Montana should be an energy independent state,” Clinton said, adding that his wife wants to invest in developing technology and facilities to use alternative energy to create that independence. Most Americans will spend $450 to $500 more on gasoline in the next year than they did last year, he said. “If you live in Montana it’s more than that. It’s farther from here to there wherever there is,” he said. Clinton said his wife will push for research, development and investment including on biofuels, on developing clean burning coal, and on building electricity transmission lines so states like Montana can take advantage of wind to produce clean energy. He said part of creating energy independence is developing new transportation technology. Hillary Clinton wants to give every American the chance to buy a car that gets 100 miles-to-thegallon, Bill Clinton said. “Now, that sounds like a political whopper, but it isn’t,” he said. Cars using lithium batteries and potentially using locally made biofuels can get that 100 miles-to-the-gallon, he said. Unfortunately, the technology is so expensive most people can’t afford it. Hillary Clinton wants to invest in research and development to make it affordable, he said. He used an example of work his foundation does, hiring people to improve energy efficiency in buildings, then letting the building owners, like the New York Housing Authority, use their energy savings to pay off the loan used to finance the project. The housing authority has dropped its energy expenses from $500 million a year to $350 million, Clinton said. “Now, that’s energy independence and Hillary will give you that kind of government,” he said. He said she also has plans to improve the education system, making sure everyone can get low interest loans to go to school if they need them and to make sure loan repayment won’t overcome the income they have once they graduate. He said another area his wife intends to tackle is the growing problem with mortgage foreclosures. With increased payments required by subprime mortgages as the economy declines, people who have never missed a payment are suddenly facing foreclosure, Bill Clinton said. His wife intends to help people through that crisis if she is elected, he said. “That’s the president’s job,” he said. “To keep big, bad things from happening and to keep the country going.”
