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Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton emphasizes a point during a campaign stop Wednesday at North Little Rock High School. Nearly 3,000 people attended the campaign appearance by the New York senator and former Arkansas first lady, who visited her former adopted home state less than a week before voters go to the polls in the Super Tuesday presidential primaries. (Photo by Wallace Wilson) Hillary Clinton brings campaign to North Little Rock Thursday, Jan 31, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau NORTH LITTLE ROCK - Locked in a heated contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed to appreciate being among friends Wednesday during a campaign stop in Arkansas. Speaking at North Little Rock High School in what was billed as a town hall meeting, the New York senator spoke fondly of her time in the state as "18 of the best years that anyone could have." She lived in Arkansas from 1974 to 1992, and 12 of those years she was Arkansas' first lady. Nearly 3,000 people, about half of them students, crowded into the high school's basketball arena for Clinton's appearance just days before Arkansans and voters in 23 other states go to the polls in next week's Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. The crowd frequently erupted into applause and cheers, particularly when Clinton spoke of her familiarity with, and fondness for, the Natural State. "I think it was (Rep.) Mike Ross who said, 'Well yeah, she knows where Lewisville and Hampton are.' I do. I know where Paragould and Conway and Russellville and Mena and Van Buren (are)," she said. Clinton also unveiled a new proposal for reforming the credit card industry during her speech and told reporters afterward she was grateful to John Edwards and his wife for their years of public service. The former North Carolina senator bowed out of the Democratic presidential race Wednesday, narrowing the field to Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Clinton said she would leave it to political pundits to say what effect Edwards' departure would have on the race. She said she has not sought his endorsement. "I think it's up to Sen. Edwards to decide how he's going to participate, if at all, in the upcoming campaign," she said. In her speech, Clinton said she wants to "change the way credit cards operate" and called for an immediate 30 percent cap on credit card interest rates, to be lowered later, and new regulations that would prevent credit card companies from unfairly raising interest rates after a card is issued. She also called for regulations requiring credit card companies to provide information about terms and rates clearly, not just in "the fine print," and said she wants to crack down on predatory lending. "We have to take responsibility for paying off our credit card expenses, but the credit card companies have to take responsibility for treating people fairly and not misleading them and not having such high rates of interest," she said. Clinton advocated taking tax subsidies away from oil companies and using the revenue to increase investment in renewable energy. America must become more energy-efficient and get tougher with oil companies and oil-producing countries to lower energy costs, she said. "I know we can't do any of this until we get the two oil men out of the White House," she said. Clinton also promised that, if elected, she would reform the health care system, create a universal preschool program, increase financial aid and tax credits to pay for college, and "end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind." The second-term senator also called for government reform. "We have to end the cronyism and the no-bid contracts and all of the incompetence and corruption that we've seen, because we've got to once again build confidence in our government," she said. On the war in Iraq, Clinton said she would ask the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and her advisers to come up with a plan to start withdrawing U.S. troops within 60 days of her taking office. "I think we can bring out one to two brigades a month," she said, but she added that civilian contractors and Iraqis who have supported the U.S. will continue to need protection. "If you will stand with me, Arkansas, I will stand with you all through this campaign and into the White House, and we will have the country that America deserves to be again," she said. The co-chairmen of Clinton's campaign in Arkansas, state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and Martha Dixon of Arkadelphia, made introductory comments, as did U.S. Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillette, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock; state Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock; and Gov. Mike Beebe. "We have the opportunity here to elect somebody who can combine experience and the ideas for change into one person," Beebe said. Though the crowd was friendly toward Clinton, not everyone was a supporter. "I'm a Ron Paul supporter," said Mark Shelnutt of Little Rock. "I've been a Libertarian for about six or seven years, and he is essentially a Libertarian." Shelnutt said he thought Clinton was intelligent and gifted, though he disagreed with her politically and found her less sincere than Edwards. Amber Griffith of Bryant said she has a cousin in Iraq and a stepbrother who is about to be deployed there. She said she supports Clinton mainly because of the senator's position on the war. "I think we should ... not pull out all of a sudden, but I think we should slowly pull out, like she was saying," Griffith said. Later Wednesday, Obama supporters said they hoped Edwards' supporters would now join the Obama campaign. At a news conference at Obama headquarters in Little Rock, Pulaski County Circuit Clerk Pat O'Brien told reporters Clinton's decision to visit Arkansas just days before Tuesday's Super Tuesday primaries suggests she has some doubts about winning her former adopted home state. |
