While Clinton would make her first campaign visit to Rhode Island, one of the states having contests on March 4, she would use this opportunity to attack Barack Obama on his health care plan. Prelude to the Wisconsin primary, Clinton’s campaign launched a pamphlet explaining that Obama’s plan was not universal. The non-partisan group known as Factcheck.org has supported Clinton’s claim.
“Of all of our differences, the one that is just inexplicable in his refusal to put forth a plan for universal health care and his continuing attacks on my plan to do so,” Clinton said. She adds: “Senator Obama says one thing in speeches and his campaign does something else.”
Clinton made it known that she would attack Obama on his health care plan.
“I don’t understand how someone can want to be our Democratic nominee and not be committed to universal health care,” Clinton continued. She would say: “John Edwards had a plan, I had a plan, Chris Dodd had a plan, Dennis Kucinich had a plan, Bill Richardson had a plan, because we’re Democrats we stand for the principle that every single person should have quality affordable health care!”
The attacks come after Clinton accused Obama and the Obama campaign of sending out mail to attack and distort Clinton’s health care plan. Asides by attacking Obama on health care, she would also attack him on inexperience. In a crowd of several thousand at Rhode Island College, she would continue her offensive on Obama.
She said: “The next president will walk in there and before the day is out will have to start tackling these big problems.” Clinton would talk about the recent problems in Pakistan, Cuba, and Serbia which all happened in one week.
In Pakistan, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the PML-N won big in the parliamentary elections and formed a coalition. There is a high chance that they will call forth for President Pervez Musharraf to be impeached.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro had stepped down. His brother Raul has taken over as Cuba’s leader.
Kosovo has recently declared its independence which angered Serbia. The United States is one of several countries that recognized Kosovo’s independence. Recently, the US embassy in Belgrade was attacked.
Clinton said to the voters that it has been awhile since a wartime president was elected.
“We haven’t had many wartime elections. And I think it is important that we do not lose sight of what it means to be electing a president in the midst of not just one, but two wars,” Clinton said in regards to what was going on overseas.
She explained: “None of the problems we face will be easily solved. I can stand up here and say, ‘Let’s get everybody together, let’s get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.’ Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions on how hard this thing is going to be. You are not going to waive a magic wand and have special interest disappear.”
Then she would also address Ralph Nader’s candidacy. Nader had run as a Reform Party candidate and a Green Party candidate. She would answer by saying: “Obviously it is not helpful to who our Democratic nominee is. But it s a free country and I don’t know what party he will run on … his being on the Green Party prevented Al Gore from being the greenest president we could ever have and I think that was really unfortunate.”
With the upcoming March 4 contests, Texas and Ohio are considered “must win” states for Hillary Clinton.