Published: March 26, 2008 11:39 pm         

Bill Clinton: ‘She can be elected’

Ex-president emphasizes job growth, troops’ return

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Instead of a rousing rendition of “Hail to the Chief,” former President Bill Clinton emerged Wednesday at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center as West Virginia’s unofficial theme song, “Country Roads,” blared over the sound system.

More than a decade after West Virginia helped him become president, Clinton said he never has forgotten the state. He pledged his wife will never forget it, either, if she has the state’s support.

Clinton spoke at a “Solutions for America” event, campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. He emphasized his wife’s campaign is not over, and said West Virginians can make her the nation’s first female president. His remarks came less than a week after Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Clinton’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke at the same venue.

“She can be elected president, and West Virginia can help,” he said.

After the Iowa caucus, some were ready to “dance on her grave,” he said. But she won the New Hampshire primary. California, Texas and Ohio voters also gave her the nod, even though she was outspent. He said the former first lady and New York senator is the candidate to beat Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, namely because she can win such states as Ohio and Florida.

“She just kept winning ... and it was because of people like you,” he said. “You can do it. It’s up to you.”

While the United States is a great country, he said, it is in a “bad fix” now — because of the economy, namely.

“Why are we in a fix?” he asked the crowd.

Several in the crowd repeatedly chanted, “Bush.”

The former president said the Bush administration and “extremist” members of the Republican Party in Congress had “showered” millionaires and special interest groups with tax cuts.

“We went back to the trickle-down economics, which never worked,” Clinton said. “They said it would all come back to us.

“When I was president, we had 8 million people move from poverty to the middle class. That’s the American dream. Five million are now back in poverty. That’s the American nightmare.”

Ending dependence on foreign oil would create two more positives, according to Clinton. Americans could find themselves far less affected by gasoline price spikes — possibly not at all. New jobs would be created as the nation produced alternative energy — like “clean coal” from West Virginia. That produced more cheers from the audience.

“These are tomorrow’s jobs,” he said. “Make (Hillary) president, and she’ll do that.”

He noted a grim, recent milestone — 4,000 American troops have been killed in Iraq. Another 30,000 have been wounded.

“Hillary believes it is time for the troops to come home from Iraq, but this must be done right,” he said.

The military is stretched thin, he said. He noted 15-month Army deployments and members of the U.S. Navy being trained in Army tactics so they can carry more of the load. Re-enlistment is low.

Iraqis must decide — themselves — how to divide oil revenues and political power, and that decision is overdue, he said.

“You would take in your neighbors after a fire, right? Even if they had to sleep on the couch?

“Well, suppose your neighbor is on the couch after five years. It’s not about the fire anymore. That’s where we are in Iraq.”

Sen. Clinton, he said, wants to begin troop withdrawals within 60 days after taking office. Also, Iraqis who have helped the American military — “sticking their necks out,” often in literal life-or-death situations — must not be abandoned. They must be allowed to come to this country.

This generation of veterans, he said, must not be forgotten either. Several are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. What could result, otherwise, is a scenario that occurred after Vietnam — thousands of veterans became homeless.

The former president said he would not forget how quiet the audience was as they listened to his remarks. He knew they were pondering their own hopes, fears, dreams and nightmares. He said they needed a president who would not forget them, and that president would be his wife.

“Look at (Hurricane) Katrina. How many of you still get sick as a dog thinking about that?” he said. “It didn’t matter where they came from, what color they were or whether they went to church or not. They were our people.”

Being president is quite the privilege, he said. Every time he would walk into a room, he would feel a “rush” as “Hail to the Chief” played. Washington is a “traffic nightmare,” but his old, bulletproof limo could go straight through stoplights. He had no commute to work, thanks to living in “America’s best public housing.” He had an airplane “so cool, people make movies about it.”

“This is all because you are fortunate enough to have the best public service job on the face of the Earth — that’s all,” he said. “It passes in the flash of an eye.”

When his wife began her campaign, he asked her a question voters must ask themselves. He asked her how one could determine if he/she was an effective president. She replied the true test would come when a president left office. Three things must be accomplished:

- Citizens must be in a better condition than when the president started.

- Their children and grandchildren must have better lives.

- The nation must be working together with the rest of the world, rather than tearing it apart.

“If you want this, West Virginia, then say ‘Yes’ to Hillary!” he said.





Amelia A. Pridemore writes for The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va.