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In Final Hours, Clinton Swipes at Bush

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January 02, 2008 1:06 PM

ABC's Kate Snow and Eloise Harper report: Sen. Hillary Clinton is not mentioning her Democratic rivals by name, but 36 hours before Iowans go to the caucuses, she has returned to some crowd-pleasing anti-Bush red meat.

Clinton told a packed hall at a church in Indianola that history will judge Bush harshly. 

She offered two complaints about the President.  "Number one...he has governed by fear, setting us apart, dividing us.  You know we had a President that said, 'All we have to fear is fear itself,' and now we have a President that wants us to be afraid.  And he has injected a strain of fatalism into the American bloodstream."

"We're gonna stand against fear and fatalism" Clinton said to big applause.

She told voters: "We are not going to be fooled again. We're gonna be in charge of our own destiny."

Later Clinton implored voters to caucus for her on Thursday night or risk a nation changed forever by Republicans.

"We cannot continue on the course we've been on for the last seven years or you will not recognize America."

Returning to more standard lines she said: "I want a government that works for everyone again." And a crowd favorite: "How about appointing qualified people for the jobs we ask them to hold in the United States?"

Clinton pledged that she would bring US troops home from Iraq "as quickly and as responsibly as we can.".

After talking about energy policy, education, foreign policy and health care she concluded, "We have never needed you more cause these are big problems and the stakes are huge."

UPDATE: Danny Diaz, a Republican National Committee spokesman, offered this responseto Clinton's comments: "What voters fear are Senator Clinton’s plans to punish middle class families with devastating tax increases and cut funding for our men and women in uniform. Voters in Iowa and across the country won’t be fooled by Clinton’s tired political rhetoric."

January 2, 2008 in Bush, George W., Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (40)

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While I would not vote for Hilary, I suspect she is quite right about George Bush - he did incite fear and fatalism into the public mind. It will take many, many years to overcome the damage that Republicans have created. It will take a strong Democrat to right the wrongs and to start bringing the middle class back into the fold.

Posted by: Brandon | Jan 2, 2008 1:57:37 PM

I disagree with Brandon. When Bill Clinton was president, he ignored all of the uprising terrorist threats. The World Trade Center was bombed, the embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombings.......if you talk to most democrats, they don't even recall these.
Finally something happened on our own soil, and it took a determined President to do something about it. I do not live in fear......just realities that if the US does not fix the terrorist problem, the terrorist problem will fix us!

Posted by: Bob | Jan 2, 2008 2:03:03 PM

End the War on Terror. Stop abortion now. Vote for ALAN KEYES.

Posted by: zab | Jan 2, 2008 2:05:09 PM

A VOTE for Hillary is A VOTE for Stronger ECONOMY!!! AMERICA CANNOT afford to "experiment" an inexperienced Candidate or another Republican!!!

Posted by: Tommy | Jan 2, 2008 2:08:38 PM

While Hillary makes a few good points, she fails to make the case why she should be president. I fail to see why so many Democrats like her. What has she done other than be married to an ex-president who was average at the job? I can't name one thing she openly stands for, except for Bush Bashing.

Posted by: Chuck | Jan 2, 2008 2:18:42 PM

"AMERICA CANNOT aford NOT to get back on the right track. A vote for ALAN KEYES is a vote in the right direction.

Posted by: ZAB | Jan 2, 2008 2:20:11 PM

Too little, too late, Hillary. She caved to Bush's fear tactics when she voted to give him the power to declare war. Now she says her vote was based on faulty intelligence. I knew there was no imminent threat from Iraq - as the Bush administration told us there was. Hillary is either a lier or didn't practice due diligence before voting to give Bush the power to declare war. Either way, she is unfit to be President in my mind.

Posted by: diana | Jan 2, 2008 2:40:59 PM

Hillary is right. I've seen her, Obama, and McCain at rallies. She's the most prepared. While, Obama is inspiring...he's shows his inexperience when he talks about foreign policy. Most of his policies come from Clinton or Edwards. McCain is an amazing foreign relations expert but a fool on domestic issues.

Posted by: Sam | Jan 2, 2008 2:44:14 PM

I think it's very funny that democrats are still running against Bush. We keep hearing that any democrat elected would be better than Bush. So what? Who cares? Bush ain't running. He's the easiest one to beat. No wonder democrats believe they are going to walk away with the election! They know they can beat a man that isn't running. That's not very impressive in the political scheme of things.

Posted by: TexBork | Jan 2, 2008 3:04:25 PM

LOL @ Bob. What did you expect Bush to do after 9-11? Cry? Though reports said that he almost did that after 9-11 at a kindergarten school. I'd give Cheney more credit to what we did after 9-11 than Bush. What did Bush do exactly to make the world safer? Hello? Bush spent almost a trillion dollars to get rid of Saddam. Please. I could have done it for a LOT less.

Posted by: koriksspanky | Jan 2, 2008 3:24:07 PM

Hey TexBork, see Romney.

Posted by: koriksspanky | Jan 2, 2008 3:27:10 PM

Hillary is the best candidate to bit republican and run our country from first day of presidency. Vote for OBma is vote for George BUsh=unexperienced Rookie politician.

Iowans vote for Hillary and make a History and make USA proud nation.

Posted by: jmaya, iowa | Jan 2, 2008 3:39:18 PM

Hillary's level of experience and knowledge makes her the best candidate for President. We need a democrat to bring the country back to the fundamentals of our founding fathers. She will be a great President! :-)

Posted by: JJJWilkes | Jan 2, 2008 3:54:15 PM

Vote fr Alan Keyes? Really? This may be the biggest story of the day. Alan Keyes has a supporter!!!! Kudos to you for supporting your guy eventhough it is gauranteed that he will get as many delegates as ME. In what world is Alan Keyes a viable presidential candidate? I wouldn't vote for Alan Keyes if they gave me 1 billion votes. Get a better candidate loser.


Do you think that was Alan Keyes himself? If so, he IS a loser!!!

Posted by: waleeg | Jan 2, 2008 4:05:35 PM

I have listened to them all and seen many in person and I am voting for Hillary Clinton. The people of NY where a little skeptical the first time she ran for US Senate but after 6 years they re-elected her by a huge margin. She has earned the respect of her fellow Senators and she is on the right side of the issues. Most any democrat running would do a better job the Bush or the Republicans running that would continue his policies, but we need to elect the Democrat who can do the BEST job from day one, and the Democrat who has the Best chance of getting elected. That person is Hillary Clinton. Having Bill Clinton as a Trusted Adviser is a supper PLUS as well.

Posted by: Carl | Jan 2, 2008 4:07:38 PM

Obama is gonna win this thing. I have never been prouder to be an American. God bless this beautiful country. Where else is this even possible? Will you ever see a president/prime minister in China named Steve Smith. Or the new leader of Spain being named Hso Chin. Only in America. Even if you are a Republican or if you like Hillary, you gotta be impressed by the American people. This is truly the greatest country on the face of the Earth.

I'm fired up and ready to go!!! Go Obama!!!

Posted by: waleeg | Jan 2, 2008 4:13:20 PM

Would the Hillary staffers please stop posting and let actual people speak. We know its getting tough for you but leave that in iowa. Maybe if people actually liked your candidate you wouldn't be pleading her case so hard.

Posted by: waleeg | Jan 2, 2008 4:17:05 PM

It takes a Village Idiot to vote for Hillary Clinton!

Posted by: Bob | Jan 2, 2008 4:27:27 PM

Who is this Albert Keyes that Zab writes about? Hmmm?

Posted by: Drome1 | Jan 2, 2008 4:29:35 PM


HELLO, FELLOW CITIZENS
I THINK WE ALL NEED,FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA, TO STOP BRINGING OUR PERSONNAL FEELINGS INTO THIS CAMPAIGN.WE NEED TO OPEN A NEW PAGE OF OUR HISTORY,A NEW ERRA WHERE WE DO POLITICS DIFFERENTLY.
THE VOTE WE ARE ABOUT TO ACCOMPLISH IN LESS THAN 24HOURS,MUST BE BASED ON WHAT WE SAW AND HAERD DURING THE CAMPAIGN AND THE PERSONNAL JUDGEMENT WE HAVE ON ALL OF THE CANDIDATES.THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FEELINGS.DON'T VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE HIM OR HER.DON'T VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE JUST BECAUSE HE OR SHE IS BLACK OR WHITE LIKE YOU.VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE YOU THINK WILL GET THE JOB DONE FOR THE GOOD OF AMERICA AND AMERICAN PEOPLE.
IN THIS SPECIAL MOMENT,WE NEED TO CALL ON GOD TO HELP US MAKE THE BEST CHOICE.
MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA

Posted by: KWAMI G. DOTSE | Jan 2, 2008 4:34:50 PM

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