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Clinton builds a bridge to bridge-building

Posted by Sasha Issenberg April 1, 2008 11:50 AM

PHILADELPHIA -- Hillary Clinton told a gathering of Pennsylvania labor unions that a building binge to repair American infrastructure could create three million jobs over ten years, linking her political travails to the nation's economic malaise with a declaration that "we're on the comeback trail as a country."

Clinton identified herself with the activism of Mother Jones, but found her greatest kinship with Philadephia's most tired cliche. She entered the hotel ballroom to a live-band rendition of the "Rocky" theme -- which John McCain used at rallies during his January comeback -- and cited the movie pugilist as a political role model.

"Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing the fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common," Clinton said. "I never quit. I never give up. And I know that we're going to make it together."

Clinton, who leads by large margins in Pennsylvania polls, has been trying to reclaim the "underdog" mantle ever since Senator Bob Casey tagged Barack Obama with it during a surprise endorsement last Friday. Casey, who has joined Obama in a sidekick role on a Pennsylvania bus trip, called his candidate an "underdog fighter for an underdog state" while the two campaigned in Johnstown over the weekend.

Clinton appeared to briefly forget that she was an underdog with a veiled swipe she directed at Casey while saluting local dignitaries who had preceded her at the convention. "I'm looking forward to inviting him to the White House to talk about what we will do on behalf of Pennsylvania," said Clinton, inevitable once more.

27 comments so far...
  1. There is only one problem with using the Rocky analogy and theme song. Rocky is attached to Sylvester Stallone at the hip and He is a staunch Republican. Regarding her ability to fight. She got knocked down when she tried to pass her failed health care reform. She got weak knees and threw the fight with George Bush when it came to voting for the war in Iraq. The sniper fire in Bosnia...... well that was a draw. Please someone tell Mrs. Clinton that you don't get to fight a prize fight just because you want to. Anyone who knows anything about boxing knows that you have to earn it.

    Posted by Ron April 1, 08 12:39 PM
  1. McCain will be in the white house if Dems to not wake up. Obama will nevor see the pres. position-- will not happen. Hillary has a chance. Obama needs to get out of the race now. This Wright issue and the fact that he is black - means --NO NO . He did it to him self-- Wright and no experience=---Military none - does not even support our military

    Posted by cal April 1, 08 12:52 PM
  1. In the words of Hillary Supporter the poet Maya Angelou:
    "Rise, Hillary Rise!"

    I can't help but admire Senator HIllary Clinton for fighting on despite the media's obvious crush on Obama. The Political Pundits sound like they are on the Obama payroll- wanting her to quit as Obama trots out its surrogates to say the same thing while Obama says she can stay in the race. Such bullies.

    I'm sticking with Hillary even if it comes to my having to cast a 'write-in' vote for her in the general.

    Posted by Evelyn April 1, 08 01:00 PM
  1. I love Hill to death but how can the media have positive coverage of Hillary if she can't stay positive :)

    Posted by Sabrina April 1, 08 01:10 PM
  1. Without a single doubt, prepare the Oval Office for Hillary!!!!

    Posted by Karen Rechlicz April 1, 08 01:14 PM
  1. HRC know alot about fighting, you just have to look at all the in house fighting within her campaign between her surrogates. They are all battling to be her top Dog. She also is very good at battling the press and has continued to battle with Sen. Obama for domain on the internet and we all know how that is working out. We know she like to throw a jab now and then, but she crys FEMALE when they come back to her. I wonder if she knows how to read a profit and loss statement for her funding and expenses and if she doesn't receive and infusion of capital she is going to be hard out to continue her fight for 10 more ROUNDS.
    She is a fighter, I'll give her that, but maybe she is just a little punchy from be on the ropes so many times.

    Posted by Katy from MD April 1, 08 01:15 PM
  1. Rocky analogies? That's just sad... she needs some new writers.

    Posted by Franklin April 1, 08 01:16 PM
  1. Hillary has what it takes to make a fine president. She has the ability and the durability.

    Posted by Bonnie Grueninger April 1, 08 01:16 PM
  1. the usa does not need a hillary building binge to destroy more natural habitat so we can expand an economy already to big to be supported by our shrinking resources.......ITS THE ENVIROMENT, STUPIDS.......EARTH FIRST......ALL WAYS.............

    Posted by wm musson April 1, 08 01:19 PM
  1. Hillary has a chance?? She isn't ahead in polls, votes, nor delegates. Why would Obama get out when he's ahead? What channel are you tuned into?? What sand hill is your head buried in??

    Posted by lin April 1, 08 01:20 PM
  1. I am sooooooooo sick of Hillary. When are people going to wake up and recognize what a dishonest and tired old manipulative person she is. She will get what she deserves and will take the Dems down with her this election.

    Posted by greg April 1, 08 01:20 PM
  1. Hey Cal -- I know its hard, but try to keep your racism out of it, okay?
    You know nothing about Jeremiah Wright except what Fox News tells you to think.

    Posted by Greg Turner April 1, 08 01:22 PM
  1. To the poster "Evelyn." What on earth do you see in Hillary Clinton, except for the fact that she is a woman?

    You can't argue she has the experience (that's been debunked). You can't argue that she is not a liar; you can't argue that she is a nice person or someone who has spiritual integrity; you can't argue that she is inspirational (other than having the tenacity of "The Terminator"); you can't argue that she isn't politics as usual; that she is not beholden to large corporate interests. In short, other than being a smart person who happened to be First Lady for eight years and who is part of a large Clintonian political machine, she doesn't have much to recommend her.



    You can't argue Hillary is

    Posted by Stephen April 1, 08 01:24 PM
  1. The best thing that could happen is for Hillary "Rotten" Clinton to build a bridge from New York to Arkansas and she can walk back to the Clinton Library and be the curator of the "fiction" section. Bill can operate the "adult section" of his wing of the library.

    Neither Clinton nor Obama have the foreign policy or domestic policy experience to lead this country. Both are Socialists and a threat to our Republic and would be the demise of our democratic principles. The only foreign policy experience that Hillary has is when she traveled abroad as first lady(?) and sat with the wives of foreign leaders at tea parties and luncheons. Obama has done nothing in his political career.

    The one term U.S. Senator, Barack Hussein Obama was an Illinois state senator who voted "present" 130 times because he could not make a decision as to how to vote on critical issues confronting the citizens of Illinois. He was and is indecisive; not presidential material. His "community organizing" was limited to the south side of Chicago where he acted in the capacity of a "white collar cop", attempting to keep the African American youth out of gangs. He obviously failed miserably at this endeavor. Barack's solution was to introduce midnight basketball games at the city parks in order to keep the African American youth off the streets. Imagine that! Rather than encourage these young people to go home, do their homework and strive to get ahead and out of the federal housing projects, Mr. Obama felt that basketball would be their ticket to success.

    No, the entire thrust of a left-wing, idealistic and socialistic ideology is to keep the downtrodden down. Clinton and Obama are both potential disasters for this nation and one or the other must be defeated in November, '08. We will still have to deal with the Ted Kennedy, San Fran Nan Pelosi, Harry Reid and Eddie Schumer types, but I believe Senator John McCain and others will eventually whip these clowns into line.

    Posted by Larkin Mead April 1, 08 01:27 PM
  1. Aside from having no significant experience, Obama has shown himself to be a liar ("NAFTA" assurances to Canadian officials), corrupt (Rozko), and a rascist hypocrite ( not aware of Rev. Wright's speeches, etc. although his wife certainly was). Ever wonder where all his money is really coming from, to what extent it is illegal, and who is being bought off?
    McCain would win in one of the biggest Presidentiallandslides in history if he ran against Obama. Among the Republican slogans would be " A vote for Obama is a vote for Osama", and " Unfortunately, it's understandable why Barrack Hussein Obama would never have told us to attack Saddam Hussein.", etc.
    Obama's only successes to date have been in his home State of Illinois, cauacuses in Republican-leaning States, and African-American voters. This base will not fly in November. The Democrats will lose not only the White House, but Congress as well with Obama heading up the ticket. All of Obama's pay-offs, and all of his money for advertising will not change that fact..
    All McCain has to do is stand in front of the former World Trade Center site in New York City and say, " Obama believes this was all the fault of America. Is that how you believe? Let's send both Obama and Osama a real message!"

    Posted by NP April 1, 08 01:59 PM
  1. I admire Hillary for staying in the race and keep fighting. Why give up now? Nobody has the magic number to lock the nomination. I am so sick of the media siding with Obama and being so negative about Hillary.
    Yes, Obama is ahead but, it does not mean he"ll win. It makes me nervous still to vote for someone I do not know much about yet. That stuff about his pastor for twenty years is very disturbing to me and I cannot get over it yet.
    I do support Hillary for her constant fight and relenlessness, it is very inspiring to see a female so smart, so competitive, and so hard working to get things done. I do really hope she wins! What is wrong with having two extremely smart people in the White House?

    Posted by Leo April 1, 08 02:09 PM
  1. Its time for a Clinton/ Nutter tictet to win the White House!

    Posted by Jason April 1, 08 02:32 PM
  1. Well written Mr. Mean, I just hope the American public is paying attention. They all seem to look on elections as something someone else will take care of. I honestly wish people who don't vote weren't allowed to complain about bad politics.
    Today's liberal public, taught in Liberal Arts colleges are fast to jump on the "change" bandwagon, assuming that Obama will change the world, though he has no experience anywhere but the suburbs of Illinois. That HRC could do anything for the good change this country needs, by allowing her husband back in the white house with his hand up her skirt (as a puppet). Neither of them will do anything unprecedented, except be the first of their kind (woman or African American) in office.
    If the public honestly thinks either of them will immediately bring troops home, they are sadly mistaken. Congress will not allow it directly, with no plan. We don't need the war following our troops back to our homeland. McCain wants the troops home as much as the rest of us, but he has the foreign policy experience as well as the knowledge of the military on his resume.
    I know voting today seems to be looking for the least of all evils, but we cannot make a difference if we merely complain and never actually vote for that "change". It came close with Ross Perot a bunch of years back, but the lack of voters never allowed to materialize.
    Lets just hope the public comes out and makes a difference this time. Don't just b!tch, VOTE!

    Posted by NJay April 1, 08 02:33 PM
  1. Larkin Mead wrote, "...John McCain and others will eventually whip these clowns into line."


    Whip them into line? Great mentality there buddy. Whip anyone who opposes you. No suggestion of an intelligent thought provoking debate? You seem to know a lot about foreign policy, do us all a favor and go sort things out over there you coward.

    Posted by Kajoo April 1, 08 02:35 PM
  1. I'm glad Senator Klobuchar didn't call for Clinton to drop out of the race. Hillary Clinton has worked very hard to discredit Senator Obama and to turn her supporters against the Democratic Party. The result is that many of Clinton's supporters are convinced that Barack Obama is the devil and that John McCain would make a much better president. This is why I want her to stay in the race: she needs to hang on until she is fully, 100% discredited. Until it is blatantly obvious that she is acting purely out of personal ambition. Until she becomes such a longshot that even her most tenacious supporters are embarrassed for her. I want her to stay in the race so that she can make increasingly desperate moves: tales of her Bosnian heroism were the start, but there are preliminary signs that she's starting to play the gender card by having her surrogates launch accusations of sexism. She needs to become desperate to the point of foolishness, then she needs to make ridiculous excuses for why she didn't win, and then she needs to concede gracelessly.

    In short, she needs to stay in the game until she has completely discredited herself, so that after she is gone her former supporters will question the things she told them: that Barack is worthless, that McCain would be a good president. The Democratic Party can still come together -- it can come together over the smouldering remains of Hillary Clinton's political reputation.

    So you go, Hillary. Run like you've never run before. Launch your "kitchen sink" attacks. Convince your donors to threaten Pelosi. Tell your supporters to vote Republican. Regale us with war stories from Bosnia. And whine about how the mean old boys won't let you be president. Don't hold back. Simple failure is not good enough -- you need to go out in a blaze of inglorious silliness, and you seem to be making every effort to do so. More power to you.

    Posted by Never_A_Clinton_Again April 1, 08 02:35 PM
  1. Are we to forget the past 12 years of REPUBLICAN MAJORITY and the results they have borne? If all they could accomplish in that time was the current train wreck of this nation, don't you think that at some point it's time to try something different? They have chosen a candidate based upon the same old comfortable idea: all for me and me for me. I do think that Mr. Mccain has been "present" the entire time, why does he suddenly get a free pass to be the one to rescue our nation, after sitting on the sidelines and eating the free popcorn at the expense of the taxpayers all of this time? Same story for Hillary, except she and Bill have been investigated for way too many crimes, and bought their way out of the same, for my tastes. More of the same is what Shillary represents as well, she is a Republican in Dems clothing. So the current leader of all, who happens to be the choice of the people instead of the corporations and the establishment, happens to be the only honest one as well, doesn't stand a chance huh? So citizens can't change what has been done to them huh? I beg to differ, it's ummm.. happening. It is perhaps you who have had a little too much of the Kool aid all these years, apparently you like the taste of poverty and wish to speak Chinese soon since you work for them now. How do you change the current situation in this country? How do you overcome the impossible establishment? As if it's not clear enough to any intelligent person: GET RID OF THE PEOPLE THAT DID IT.

    Posted by William April 1, 08 02:42 PM
  1. Well every one remembers end of Clinton presidency in 2000.
    I think Hillary made a bad example comparing her with Rocky.
    This couple will bring to the white house only political immorality and indignity.
    They always have been immoral and negative.
    I don’t think our county needs this type of politics right now.
    Especially now, when we need to unified, in order to get out of this mess.
    This couple will make things worst as they are only self center politicians that are only care about them selves and just using opportunity and undermining every one and every thing with their lies and immoral politics.

    I will not be surprise if Hillary will continue to campaign even after Obama will be elected president of US.

    Posted by Albertdonaghu April 1, 08 02:51 PM
  1. Reality folks, the only way to get things done in Washington is to work with the other side and both sides need do a little give and take. Hillary has shown, during her time in the Senate, that she can work with the other side to get things done. Believe it or not, so has McCain. Obama has not shown any such ability. Hillary is the best one for the job, and if she doesn't get the nomination, I will be voting for McCain, as will many other Hillary supporters. Wake up Democrats, Obama needs more experience, and we need to know what he is REALLY all about, not the smoke screen he has been giving us from the start.

    Posted by Dave April 1, 08 03:25 PM
  1. We will see a lot more socialist programs and bigger downward spiral of the country if either Hillary or Obama make it into office. With more socialist programs, more taxes. McCain will be another Bush, plus put us in more debt and increased taxes because of the war. We will see the down fall of the economy. It's a shame to know that morons are destroying my future in this country because they are still blind about the facts of these criminals and are only voting for them because of "emotions". Wake up people. There are really problems this country and the people are facing, and the only one ballsy enough to talk about the real issues and real solutions is Dr. RON PAUL, A TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT!!!

    Posted by Ty (Ron Paul 2008) April 1, 08 03:45 PM
  1. We will see a lot more socialist programs and bigger downward spiral of the country if either Hillary or Obama make it into office. With more socialist programs, more taxes. McCain will be another Bush, plus put us in more debt and increased taxes because of the war. We will see the down fall of the economy. It's a shame to know that morons are destroying my future in this country because they are still blind about the facts of these criminals and are only voting for them because of "emotions". Wake up people. There are really problems this country and the people are facing, and the only one ballsy enough to talk about the real issues and real solutions is Dr. RON PAUL, A TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT!!!

    Posted by Ty (Ron Paul 2008) April 1, 08 03:45 PM
  1. This democrat is not voting for Obama in November. No way. Even a kitchen job needs some sort of qualification. What makes Obama supporters think being able to give sermons of hope to swooning crowds is a qualification for the top-most job in the country? We already did that with Bush and the results aren't so pleasing. Its eaither Hillary or I sit through this and wait for 2012.

    Posted by Gladys April 1, 08 08:07 PM
  1. YOU MIGHT BE AN IDIOT:-)

    If you think Barack Obama with little or no experience would be better than Hillary Clinton with 35 years experience.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with no experience can fix an economy on the verge of collapse better than Hillary Clinton. Whose ;-) husband (Bill Clinton) led the greatest economic expansion, and prosperity in American history.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with no experience fighting for universal health care can get it for you better than Hillary Clinton. Who anticipated this current health care crisis back in 1993, and fought a pitched battle against overwhelming odds to get universal health care for all the American people.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with no experience can manage, and get us out of two wars better than Hillary Clinton. Whose ;-) husband (Bill Clinton) went to war only when he was convinced that he absolutely had to. Then completed the mission in record time against a nuclear power. AND DID NOT LOSE THE LIFE OF A SINGLE AMERICAN SOLDIER. NOT ONE!

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with no experience saving the environment is better than Hillary Clinton. Whose ;-) husband (Bill Clinton) left office with the greatest amount of environmental cleanup, and protections in American history.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with little or no education experience is better than Hillary Clinton. Whose ;-) husband (Bill Clinton) made higher education affordable for every American. And created higher job demand and starting salary's than they had ever been before or since.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that Obama with no experience will be better than Hillary Clinton who spent 8 years at the right hand of President Bill Clinton. Who is already on record as one of the greatest Presidents in American history.

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think that you can change the way Washington works with pretty speeches from Obama, rather than with the experience, and political expertise of two master politicians ON YOUR SIDE like Hillary and Bill Clinton..

    You Might Be An Idiot!

    If you think all those Republicans voting for Obama in the Democratic primaries, and caucuses are doing so because they think he is a stronger Democratic candidate than Hillary Clinton. :-)

    Best regards

    jacksmith...

    Posted by jacksmith April 1, 08 08:27 PM
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About political intelligence Field reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors covering the 2008 presidential campaign and the national maneuvering of Bay State politicians.

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