Clinton Speech Invites Comparisons

[Pauldo]

By DONNA CASSATA and RON FOURNIER

WASHINGTON (AP) - It was a case of Clinton deja vu. "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed by what is right about America," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady who seems to be aiming for a return to the White House, said Wednesday as she wrapped up her speech to a Hispanic organization.
Excuse the crowd if they had heard it before. The New York Democrat, who clearly took good notes, had very slightly revised her husband's old standard, from his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1993.
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America," President Clinton told the nation then.
And where was Bill at the moment Hillary was speaking? He was elsewhere in the capital, delivering a 45-minute speech to the Global Philanthropy Forum that touched on his own post-presidential work and issues from immigration to global warming, AIDS to obesity, health care to community development.


The dueling speeches from the political twosome were more than the Clintons writ large, the power couple who elicit equal parts love and loathing in some citizens. The situation showed that Sen. Clinton is carefully treading on the presidential path taken by her husband and, no matter what she does or says, will always be compared with him.
In February, the two shared the stage with former presidents and a first lady at Coretta Scott King's funeral, stirring talk of 2008 and past and future White House occupants. Next week, the Clintons are scheduled to give speeches on the same day in Chicago.
Policies aside, the Clintons' political skills and style were on display Wednesday.
The former president's smoothness - even rival Republicans marveled at it through two terms - quickly captured his crowd. Conversational, self-deprecating, largely extemporaneous, he was part tutorial, part lecturer, part comedian.
With one hand in his pocket and the other for gesturing, he joked that he missed his introduction because he was "backstage and half deaf" and recalled John Quincy Adams' dismissive comment that "there's nothing so pathetic as a former president."
Adams solved his post-White House problem by serving in the House from 1831 until his death in 1848; Clinton said "one member of my family in Congress is enough."
He explained that an inability to play on golf's senior tour, limited saxophone skills and a hardworking ethos forced him to created the William J. Clinton Foundation to take on the challenges of global interdependence.
He arrived on time for his speech. She was 20 minutes late.
Addressing the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's legislative conference, the former first lady held the side of the podium or rested her hands on a folder containing notes or texts. In the first few minutes, she looked down to find a number or a name in a speaking style that resembled a law school professor.
She became less formal, more conversational as the speech went on. At one point, she held the group's legislative guide, opened to an inside and dog-eared page and praised them for their work.
It was an effective visual device.
"She's actually read it," one audience member whispered to another.
About halfway through the speech, she stopped touching the podium. Her hands came together in the form of a steeple but often broke free to gesture. She did not do the famous Bill Clinton thumbs-up, but she held both her hands out, palms up - a gesture that seemed to be an invitation to join her on the stage.
She focused on the major problems facing the country - immigration, global competition, health care - that she said Republicans have not tackled.
"I think we should be addressing all of these problems with an American can-do spirit," she said, "but in order to do so we have to reach out to each other," show empathy and find bipartisanship.
She revisited the better economic days of her husband's presidency, arguing that work needs to be done after President Bush's term ends.
"We have real ticking time bomb with our economy," she said. "It's just a reminder that we have gotten ourselves into this trouble once again."
Deep into a speech with several partisan riffs, she delivered her first significant applause line, saying immigrants are hardworking, law-abiding people who deserve our respect.
After the speech, Sen. Clinton shook hands and posed for photos until her staff pulled her away after 10 minutes. Across town, the former president signed autographs and spent twice as much time with various philanthropists.
No longer a candidate or government employee, he had the time to work the crowd. Hillary Rodham Clinton had places to go

[colossus27]

She focused on the major problems facing the country - immigration, global competition, health care - that she said Republicans have not tackled. "I think we should be addressing all of these problems with an American can-do spirit," she said, "but in order to do so we have to reach out to each other," show empathy and find bipartisanship.

Yeah. "Can-do spirit" like mandating 50% of domestic vaccination sales be done directly to the government, at cost. Nine years later, only seven of the original 25 companies remain. She's really got her finger on the pulse of heath-care.