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Former President Campaigns in SC
Saturday, December 8, 2007
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Former President Bill Clinton pushed his wife's health
care plan in early voting South Carolina on Saturday, promoting the
Democratic White House hopeful's experience on the issue in a state where
nearly 700,000 people lack health insurance.
"There is not a place in America that needs Hillary's health care plan as
much as South Carolina," Bill Clinton told about 100 members of a graduate
chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's oldest black sorority.
The visit came the same weekend that Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival,
Barack Obama, planned a series of appearances with talk show host Oprah
Winfrey -- in Iowa on Saturday and South Carolina and New Hampshire on
Sunday.
The former president said people need to consider health care as part of all
the issues facing the nation.
"We've got some big challenges," said Bill Clinton, who was campaigning
along with Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights leader. "One
is persistent inequalities in income, health care and education."
About 17 percent of South Carolina's population lacked health insurance last
year, compared with 16 percent uninsured nationwide, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
Bill Clinton said his wife's health care plan would cover all 672,000
uninsured South Carolinians and save the average family in the state $2,200
a year in health costs.
As first lady, Hillary Clinton spearheaded her husband's attempt to achieve
universal health care. It failed in Congress, and now the New York senator
says she is eager to try again. Her plan requires all Americans to obtain
health insurance. Those without it would be able to choose from options that
are currently available to members of Congress. Several of her Democratic
rivals, including Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, also have released
health care plans.
Of his wife's efforts while he was in office, Bill Clinton said it was
"better to fail going in the right direction" than to not offer affordable
health care. "America can make a new beginning," he said.
Later, Bill Clinton was to attend a forum on health care at the Medical
University of South Carolina Children's Hospital before mingling with
holiday shoppers in the city's open air market. He was to attend church in
Charleston on Sunday, according to a campaign schedule.
Health care is a subject that one recent poll shows is critical to
Democratic support here. It's also an issue Hillary Clinton appears to own
in the minds of likely voters, according to a survey by The Associated Press
and the Pew Research Center.
The former president's visit also could be seen as a bid to garner some
publicity in the face the Winfrey visit _ perhaps the biggest campaign event
for Democrats in South Carolina this political season. Obama's campaign
expects thousands to attend their appearance at a football stadium Sunday in
Columbia.
The appearance was moved from an indoor arena to the 80,000-seat football
stadium in Columbia where the University of South Carolina football team
plays. Obama's campaign said it didn't expect to fill Williams-Brice
Stadium, but that demand for the free tickets needed for admittance quickly
surpassed the capacity of the 18,000-seat coliseum where the speeches were
first slated to take place. No tickets are now needed for the Sunday event.
Bill Clinton has been on the campaign trail for his wife with increasing
frequency, and has made several appearances around South Carolina, where he
remains popular with black voters who comprise nearly half the party's
primary vote. He already had been scheduled to speak here later in the month
during an event honoring former Education Secretary and Gov. Dick Riley.
The recent AP-Pew Research poll gives Clinton the support of 45 percent of
likely Democratic primary voters, followed by Obama's 31 percent. The two
candidates break even on the black vote here, and that's where Winfrey's
appeal could become a factor _ besides her pull among women.
But Sen. Clinton has a commanding lead on the issue of health care, with 55
percent of likely voters saying she is the Democrat best able to improve the
U.S. health care system. The poll puts that issue _ along with the Iraq war
_ as top in the minds of Democrats here. Obama garnered only 19 percent on
the health care question.
The two front-runners are trailed by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
at 10 percent. The poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 6
percentage points.
The chairman of the state Republican Party issued a statement Saturday that
said Hillary Clinton was losing support in South Carolina, a state solidly
in the GOP bracket when it comes to presidential politics.
Bill Clinton "never carried our State, and Hillary Clinton won't either _ if
she can win her party's nomination," said GOP chairman Katon Dawson.
Former President Campaigns in SC
Saturday, December 8, 2007
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Former President Bill Clinton pushed his wife's health
care plan in early voting South Carolina on Saturday, promoting the
Democratic White House hopeful's experience on the issue in a state where
nearly 700,000 people lack health insurance.
"There is not a place in America that needs Hillary's health care plan as
much as South Carolina," Bill Clinton told about 100 members of a graduate
chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's oldest black sorority.
The visit came the same weekend that Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival,
Barack Obama, planned a series of appearances with talk show host Oprah
Winfrey -- in Iowa on Saturday and South Carolina and New Hampshire on
Sunday.
The former president said people need to consider health care as part of all
the issues facing the nation.
"We've got some big challenges," said Bill Clinton, who was campaigning
along with Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights leader. "One
is persistent inequalities in income, health care and education."
About 17 percent of South Carolina's population lacked health insurance last
year, compared with 16 percent uninsured nationwide, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation.
Bill Clinton said his wife's health care plan would cover all 672,000
uninsured South Carolinians and save the average family in the state $2,200
a year in health costs.
As first lady, Hillary Clinton spearheaded her husband's attempt to achieve
universal health care. It failed in Congress, and now the New York senator
says she is eager to try again. Her plan requires all Americans to obtain
health insurance. Those without it would be able to choose from options that
are currently available to members of Congress. Several of her Democratic
rivals, including Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, also have released
health care plans.
Of his wife's efforts while he was in office, Bill Clinton said it was
"better to fail going in the right direction" than to not offer affordable
health care. "America can make a new beginning," he said.
Later, Bill Clinton was to attend a forum on health care at the Medical
University of South Carolina Children's Hospital before mingling with
holiday shoppers in the city's open air market. He was to attend church in
Charleston on Sunday, according to a campaign schedule.
Health care is a subject that one recent poll shows is critical to
Democratic support here. It's also an issue Hillary Clinton appears to own
in the minds of likely voters, according to a survey by The Associated Press
and the Pew Research Center.
The former president's visit also could be seen as a bid to garner some
publicity in the face the Winfrey visit _ perhaps the biggest campaign event
for Democrats in South Carolina this political season. Obama's campaign
expects thousands to attend their appearance at a football stadium Sunday in
Columbia.
The appearance was moved from an indoor arena to the 80,000-seat football
stadium in Columbia where the University of South Carolina football team
plays. Obama's campaign said it didn't expect to fill Williams-Brice
Stadium, but that demand for the free tickets needed for admittance quickly
surpassed the capacity of the 18,000-seat coliseum where the speeches were
first slated to take place. No tickets are now needed for the Sunday event.
Bill Clinton has been on the campaign trail for his wife with increasing
frequency, and has made several appearances around South Carolina, where he
remains popular with black voters who comprise nearly half the party's
primary vote. He already had been scheduled to speak here later in the month
during an event honoring former Education Secretary and Gov. Dick Riley.
The recent AP-Pew Research poll gives Clinton the support of 45 percent of
likely Democratic primary voters, followed by Obama's 31 percent. The two
candidates break even on the black vote here, and that's where Winfrey's
appeal could become a factor _ besides her pull among women.
But Sen. Clinton has a commanding lead on the issue of health care, with 55
percent of likely voters saying she is the Democrat best able to improve the
U.S. health care system. The poll puts that issue _ along with the Iraq war
_ as top in the minds of Democrats here. Obama garnered only 19 percent on
the health care question.
The two front-runners are trailed by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
at 10 percent. The poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 6
percentage points.
The chairman of the state Republican Party issued a statement Saturday that
said Hillary Clinton was losing support in South Carolina, a state solidly
in the GOP bracket when it comes to presidential politics.
Bill Clinton "never carried our State, and Hillary Clinton won't either _ if
she can win her party's nomination," said GOP chairman Katon Dawson.
