Clinton vs. Obama

By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

U.S.Sen. Hillary Clinton

Before a crammed crowd of 3,000 people in the gymnatorium at Allen University, with another few hundred on the outside, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) gave 50 minutes of her political opinions and positions last Monday morning, Feb. 19. She announced she had just kicked off her campaign for president in the S.C. Democrat primary. She made it clear from the outset she was qualified for the job. She was offering no sentimental pull. No "vote for me, the woman candidate" was in her pitch.

Clinton warned her audience of the constant threat from terrorists, and she distanced herself from the Democrats who advocated a pullback from the efforts to defend the U.S. against terrorism. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she should know, she said.

She voted with the president for the invasion, but now she argues it was a reckless invasion with a poor plan following.

The author of It Takes a Village , her book on educating children, Clinton took a stab at President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" approach, which appears to have left the adequate funding behind. Even though federal government spending on public education has doubled in the Bush administration, Clinton knew her observations of the education story and its underfunded school districts would strike a chord with the diverse audience.

A disabled member of the audience complained about his distance from the stage, his inability to locate closer. Clinton responded with her candidacy as one to push barriers down - barriers to the disabled, barriers to minorities, barriers to children, and so on.

She reminded the audience of her eight years as White House Occupant #2 and the value of that exposure and experience in the front- row seat.

Clinton advocated trade, but with trade restrictions and agreements so other countries would share labor and environmental concerns with the U.S. as well as markets.

Like Obama, Clinton stepped down from the stage at the end of her speech to meet as many people as she had time to manage before she took off for her next appointment, this time in Florence.