Poor Hillary and poor poor Bill. Always on the wrong side of an issue. The only folks they are successful with are McCain and the right wingers. Very soon, people will start booing the Clintons on the stump.
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Ind. crowd not fazed by Obama comments
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton drew little response from a crowd Monday when he brought up the sharp exchanges between his wife and Barack Obama over Obama's comments that some in the Rust Belt are bitter over their economic situation.
Clinton's remarks — and the more fiery ones of a kickoff speaker — fell mostly flat before the crowd at a suburban school and he quickly moved on. Some in the crowd said they were glad he did so and that they had little interest in the controversy.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama have had four days of attacks and responses over Obama telling those at a San Francisco fundraiser that some working-class voters are bitter over their economic circumstances and "cling to guns and religion" as a result.
Obama made similar comments to a crowd in Terre Haute on Friday, drawing a standing ovation.
Bill Clinton poked fun early in his hour-long talk Monday at Obama mockingly comparing the former first lady to Annie Oakley for her reminiscence about learning to shoot a gun as a child and duck hunting as an adult.
"They asked me what I thought and I said 'Well, I actually admired Annie Oakley because she was a great role model for women when they didn't have many.' But even Annie Oakley never took a six-shooter to a duck blind," Clinton said.
The crowd of about 1,000 people at Perry Meridian Middle School's gym answered with a few laughs and a smattering of applause, and Clinton moved on. "But that's not really what this election is about, is it?" he said.
He drew much more applause as he spoke on topics such as ending the war in Iraq, reforming the federal No Child Left Behind act and providing lower interest rates for college loans.
Clinton opened with a comparison of the country's economy during his time as president and during the Bush administration and included a swipe at Obama.
Clinton took exception with Obama's observation about the Rust Belt's economic decline having taken place over the past 25 years — a period that includes the Clinton presidency.
"I repeatedly hear from their side 'there really wasn't that much difference between the 1990s and this decade,"' Clinton said. "That would explain why their campaign does better among younger voters who don't remember than older ones who do."
Patty Slevin, a social worker for the Indianapolis Public Schools, wore a campaign shirt from Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and said she came to Monday's speech as a solid Hillary Clinton supporter.
She said she was glad the former president spent little time on the latest campaign controversy.
"I don't care what Obama said last weekend. I'm glad he stayed positive," Slevin said of Clinton. "We have so many more important issues that we should be talking about and the candidates should be talking about."
Signs with slogans such as "Born in a Small Town, Raised Right" and "Clinging to Nothing, Embracing Hillary" dotted the crowd.
Gretchen Osborne, a 72-year-old retired home health worker, held a sign reading "I am Small Town America" that she was given when she arrived at the school. She said Obama's comments were wrong.
"We really don't know that much about Obama and everyone just jumped on the bandwagon with him," Osborne said.
Democratic state Sen. Earline Rogers, an Obama supporter whose district covers much of economically depressed Gary, said she understood Obama's assessment.
"I've seen bitterness myself when it comes to people who feel that their government is not responsive to their needs," Rogers said. "It may have been a clumsy choice of words, but I think if we're honest then I think all of us would know that is the mood of the voter."
The former president also spoke Monday in the southern Indiana town of Corydon and in Decatur, near Fort Wayne, as part of his fifth trip through the state in the past month. Hillary Clinton and Obama are facing each other in the state's May 6 primary.
Joe Hogsett, the former Indiana secretary of state who is Hillary Clinton's Indiana campaign chairman, gave the Indianapolis crowd a fiery take on Obama remarks before Bill Clinton spoke, but mostly drew brief applause.
"If our government isn't fighting to help provide a level playing field, those of us in small towns don't express our frustration in our church pews, we express our frustration at the ballot box," Hogsett said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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