December 26, 2007
A Daunting Agenda Ahead
MT. PLEASANT, IA, Dec 26 -- Hillary Clinton began her final push before the Jan. 3 caucuses at an event in southeastern Iowa this afternoon with her husband, daughter and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, by stressing the problems the next president will face the day they are inaugurated.
"That person will go to the Oval office and on the desk in the Oval office will be a stack of problems," she said. "We know that the next president will face a daunting agenda."
It was a theme that emerged in the days before Christmas, as the New York senator, her husband and surrogates like Gen. Wesley Clark and childhood friends sought to combine the change and experience arguments while also showing Clinton's softer side.
Bill Clinton, who was set to split off and stump in several towns on his wife's behalf, introduced her by saying he wouldn't want her in this race if he didn't think she could win and arguing that it was important to vote for Hillary because this was a time of opportunity in the world, but also a time of great uncertainty, with rampant economic inequality at home and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to deal with abroad.
"Being president under the best of circumstances is a challenging job," the former president told an enthusiastic crowd, many of whom had been waiting at least an hour for them to arrive. The senator's plane was late leaving New York due to air traffic congestion.
(NBC/NJ's ATHENA JONES)
The campaign sent out a memo this morning that noted: "America faces a war abroad and a troubled economy at home -- critical moments that demand a President who is tested, ready to lead on Day 1".
Clinton's closing argument here included a new mailer meant to encourage supporters to turn out for her. The text warns: "Just agreeing to support Hillary isn't good enough" and "If just one in three supporters fails to show up a t the caucus, we won't be successful in Iowa....Coming to the caucus is that important!"
The morning memo seemed to present a fear-centered argument for why America needs a president like Hillary Clinton, while the mailer seemed to have an oddly desperate tone.
Add to that a new ad airing in Iowa and New Hampshire that includes the text: "A nation at war. Troubles at home. America at a crossroads. Demands a leader. With a steady hand."
(The Republican National Committee was quick to send out a response to the ad that echoed some of the criticisms Clinton's main rivals have lobbed at her. It read, in part: "America deserves a leader who will deliver straight answers on the critical challenges confronting our nation.")
Just days ago, Clinton was criticizing the Bush administration for what she called a politics of fear. Is she playing the fear card now and if so, how will that play with Iowans?
Sen. Clinton also spoke, as she often does, about her work for the Children's Defense Fund, the speech she gave in Beijing about women's rights, her efforts to provide health care for children and her work with Republicans in the Senate -- using the examples to illustrate the various ways she changed people's lives for the better. And she talked about America needing a "new beginning" when it comes to healthcare, education and other issues.
But the essence of the message today was in stark contrast to the closing argument Barack Obama was making -- or practicing making -- in a speech in Mason City. (The Obama camp says his closing argument speech is set for Thursday.)
In talking about his decision to run, Obama told the northern Iowa crowd: "We were banking on the notion that if we gave the American people a clear alternative, if we talked to them not about their fears but about their hopes, if we talked to them about how we could bring this country together, and start solving problems again if we talked about how we could push back special interests that have come to dominate the agenda in Washington, if we talked about being honest and straight with the American people about how we were going to solve problems so that we weren't avoiding tough questions because we were worried that those answers wouldn't be popular. We felt that we might be able to not just change political parties in the WH but that we might be able to change our politics."
Posted at 11:27 PM
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