Spring Break
Candidates counting on Texas | Bill Clinton stumps at A&M, across state in final push for his wife
By: Rick Rojas
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News
Hours ago, Sen. Hillary Clinton was live in New York City joking with comedienne Amy Poehler, who was dressed as her on "Saturday Night Live." It was President Bill Clinton, though, who was in a broiling backroom of Reed Arena cramped with supporters as a part of the campaign's final push before the Texas primary.
"I'm not the candidate, I'm just the free campaign aid," said Clinton, who spoke Sunday afternoon in College Station at one of many stops he made, including Houston and Beaumont.
With a Texas flag and homemade signs behind him and the hand-wagging, finger-pointing rhetorical approach of a preacher on Sunday morning, Clinton told the story of a country that changed after he left office and how his wife will be the woman to bring it back.
He said the United States is part of an interdependent world. Many of the problems the country faces, such as a dismal economy, the dependence on oil, slow development of alternative energy and health care, are linked, Clinton said.
"The truth is most Americans think they've been in a recession for some time," Clinton said, addressing the state of the economy.
Clinton remembered back to the White House and the economic situation then. He said the average income in the 1990s,, accounting for inflation, increased $7,500 a year. But in the 2000s, he said, incomes have decreased by $1,000 a year. All the while, Clinton continued, food prices have gone up with energy prices - higher than the rate of inflation.
And he said that because of the interdependence, if the U.S. could develop alternative energy sources lessening the reliance on foreign oil, jobs could be created, the economy would be boosted and the nation would be more secure.
Clinton said a major portion of the country's dependencies is the money loaned by other countries to the U.S. government. "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from Saudi Arabia," he said. "We've got to get back to financial responsibility and she'll take us there."
"I'm not the candidate, I'm just the free campaign aid," said Clinton, who spoke Sunday afternoon in College Station at one of many stops he made, including Houston and Beaumont.
With a Texas flag and homemade signs behind him and the hand-wagging, finger-pointing rhetorical approach of a preacher on Sunday morning, Clinton told the story of a country that changed after he left office and how his wife will be the woman to bring it back.
He said the United States is part of an interdependent world. Many of the problems the country faces, such as a dismal economy, the dependence on oil, slow development of alternative energy and health care, are linked, Clinton said.
"The truth is most Americans think they've been in a recession for some time," Clinton said, addressing the state of the economy.
Clinton remembered back to the White House and the economic situation then. He said the average income in the 1990s,, accounting for inflation, increased $7,500 a year. But in the 2000s, he said, incomes have decreased by $1,000 a year. All the while, Clinton continued, food prices have gone up with energy prices - higher than the rate of inflation.
And he said that because of the interdependence, if the U.S. could develop alternative energy sources lessening the reliance on foreign oil, jobs could be created, the economy would be boosted and the nation would be more secure.
Clinton said a major portion of the country's dependencies is the money loaned by other countries to the U.S. government. "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from Saudi Arabia," he said. "We've got to get back to financial responsibility and she'll take us there."
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