SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE UNION MILLS, Ind. — I would have posted this item about Sen. Hillary Clinton earlier, but we've been driving through rural Indiana all day and it took 12 hours to upload my video on YouTube.
I spent part of yesterday with Clinton, whose stump speech remains a mix of policy proposals and a touting of her years spent in the White House. There were about 1,000 voters gathered under the sunshine in Lafayette's town square.
Here's some video I took of her closing argument:
I had a story in today's paper exploring Clinton's lighter side that's emerged more and more since Sen. Barack Obama became the frontrunner.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Meet the softer side of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.Gone is the tough and all-business presidential candidate who regularly blared at rival Sen. Barack Obama, who lately is instead battling self-inflicted wounds. In her place is what most people who know her well say was there all along — a warm and engaging woman willing to laugh at herself.
"I'm riding shotgun!" Mrs. Clinton exclaimed to local radio jocks while joining an Indiana commuter for his trek to work yesterday, explaining that because of her security she rarely gets to ride up front.
"The best part of what I'm doing right now is I'm sitting in the front seat. You can't imagine what that feels like."
She also hammed it up for the tollbooth operator and beamed that despite being tired from a rigorous campaign, "I'm having such a good time, I'm really out here enjoying myself."
It was similar to the glimpse she allowed voters back in New Hampshire, when the former first lady got choked up responding to a question about how she keeps it all together. That moment earned her sympathy from many voters who sometimes deem her calculating in favorability polls, and even her aides said it was "humanizing."
The next night, when she won the Granite State's primary, Mrs. Clinton announced she'd found her voice. Such moments have popped up on the trail since, but lately she has been relaying stories from her childhood and engaging voters with tales of people she's met along the way that have emotionally moved her.
Read the rest here.
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (1)
You know, when all this primary stuff started a year ago, I really didn�t have much interest in any of the candidates specifically, only �let�s get anyone else in there other than Bush�. I hadn�t heard of Barack Obama, didn�t feel any specific kinship towards Hillary Clinton, and probably was leaning more towards John Edwards except I couldn�t quite picture him tough enough to accomplish the job. So, I started watching the debates and reading up on all the candidates. I even got on that website (?) that asked a series of questions to see who was more in-line with my own beliefs and positions. I knew once this race got really going, the mudslinging would start, as it tends to do when so much is on the line. But I also knew to try and focus on the message, the track record and the gut feeling I got watching all the Democratic candidates make their cases on the debates. So, here we are, 2 people left standing, a lot of mud everywhere, and my focus still the same: who do I believe will get up, everyday, and work their butt off for me and every hardworking American, because frankly, that�s what matters at the end of all this. Not Parties, not what-ifs, not should haves, but who I believe and trust to seriously get the job done to clean up this situation we find ourselves in, thanks to 8 years of lunacy. Let�s face it, America�s world reputation is in tatters, our economy is a mess, our troops are battered and dying, and frankly, we have a LONG way to go to mend the lines of divisions in this country: racial, gender, economic, etc. In a perfect, ideal world, we wouldn�t be voting for a person because of their �Party� and friends, we would be voting for that individual who has a track record of crossing those very lines and trying to get the important things we all want in life: health, wealth, harmony and happiness, regardless of, gasp, party affiliation. So, after taking that ridiculous but helpful little web questionnaire, watching all the debates, looking at the candidate�s records and just comparing resumes to resumes, I find myself picking the person that has a track record of what I am looking for. That person is Senator Clinton. She has worked hard and diligently for all Americans, and spent years (35) building strong relationships because she has a passionate vision of what America can be, not just because she is running for President. Senator Clinton is the right choice for me in '08
Posted by Sunny Florida | May 1, 2008 10:54 PM