Clinton Focuses Speech At Hunter on McCain, Obama
Following losses Tuesday night in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Senator Clinton returned to friendly territory yesterday to deliver a speech attacking her Democratic opponent, Senator Obama, and the Republican front-runner, Senator McCain.
In a speech at Hunter College, Mrs. Clinton sought to pit her candidacy against that of Mr. McCain, who in recent speeches has spoken of Mr. Obama as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"The contrast with our likely Republican opponent couldn't be more stark," Mrs. Clinton said. "McCain admits he doesn't understand much about the economy. Well, I have a plan to turn our economy around and create 5 million new jobs. McCain wants more of the same. I will deliver 21st-century solutions so that we can get off this track toward nowhere that George Bush and the Republicans have placed us on."
The bulk of Mrs. Clinton's speech was devoted to contrasting herself with Mr. Obama, and she continued her campaign's recent efforts to portray the Illinois senator as inexperienced and untested. She referred to Mr. Obama's rhetorical skill several times, describing primary voters' decision as "a choice between speeches and solutions."
"It is time to get real," Mrs. Clinton said, "to get real about how we actually win this election and get real about the challenges facing America. It's time that we moved from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions."
She added: "While words matter greatly, the best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action."
Mrs. Clinton criticized Mr. Obama's record as a state legislator, citing his "present" votes on bills in the Illinois Senate and a report in the New York Times that said Mr. Obama altered a bill tightening rules on nuclear plants to reflect his consultations with a plant operator.
"You cannot achieve the changes we want by voting 'present' on controversial issues, by meeting behind closed doors with corporate interests to water down legislation," Mrs. Clinton said.
Acknowledging Mr. Obama's string of primary and caucus victories, Mrs. Clinton congratulated him on "a good couple of weeks," but she reassured her supporters that her campaign could take a punch.
"Campaigns are not supposed to be easy," she said. "They're supposed to be hard, they're supposed to be challenging."
