Jeers for Hillary, cheers for Obama

December 2, 2007

Hillary Clinton was booed at a Democratic presidential candidate forum Saturday, reflecting some of the rancor directed toward her by left wing community activists.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, on the other hand, was greeted with a standing ovation.

Clinton was jeered after she answered a question about immigration reform. The New York senator told the crowd she would enact comprehensive immigration legislation if elected president, but would not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants and would require that they earn citizenship.

The irony is that Clinton — like Obama — is a moderate on social and economic issues. (Clinton responded to questions by satellite phone from New York. She cancelled her appearance at the event following a hostage incident in her Rochester, N.H. campaign office on Friday.)
Clinton and four other Democratic candidates — Sen. Chris Dodd of Vermont, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Obama — were speaking Saturday afternoon at the forum sponsored by the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and The Center for Community Change.

Clinton told the crowd of about 3,000 that as president she would “do as much as I can do” to enact immigration reform, but it would also require congressional cooperation.

The jeering after Clinton’s comments on immigration came at the end of her talk but continued even after the moderator, Cathy Hughes, founder of the African-American network Radio One, expressed sympathy about the hostage incident.

The questions posed to the Democrats ranged from concerns over health care, protection for the small family farm, ending racial profiling and halting the environmental degradation of our cities.

Obama talked about his background as a community organizer and was not asked about immigration — an issue on which his position is close to Clinton’s.

Asked if he is willing to tell Americans there is a need for more government, Obama replied: “Government has a role to play in making sure that the American people can live out their dreams.” But, he added: “They don’t expect the government to solve all their problems.”

He noted all Americans should be entitled to a living wage, a good, affordable college education and health insurance.

Edwards, the first speaker in the program, criticized the role corporations play in agriculture and pharmaceuticals and the strength of their lobbyists in Washington. “We see what they are doing to destroy our land,” he said. “We see what they are doing to destroy our people and their assets.

“How long are we going to let these corporations run the United States of America?”

Referring to his previous career as a trial lawyer suing big business, Edwards noted: “I was in the courtroom and I beat ’em and I beat ’em and I beat ’em again.”

In a press conference after he spoke, Edwards was asked if he would continue his war against poverty even if he wasn’t elected president.

Edwards said he refused to consider not becoming president, but he “will always” fight on behalf of the poor and it is the central issue of his platform.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

Posted by Hillary · Filed Under Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton in the News, News, Top Story

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