Clinton Promises a
Cleanup of Government
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Dima Gavrysh for The New York Times
Hillary Rodham Clinton before the National Action
Network on Friday, with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, far left, and the
Rev. Al Sharpton |
By PATRICK HEALY and
JON HURDLE, NYTimes on the Web, April 21, 2007
Seeking black and female votes
yesterday, first at Rutgers University and then before the Rev. Al Sharpton’s
political organization, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton used housecleaning
imagery to swipe at President Bush and praised the Rutgers women’s basketball
team as teaching her and others a lesson.
Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York, criticized President Bush at several points,
particularly over Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts and Iraq, which she called
“this war that he deliberately started.” But for the most part she used
personal examples and metaphors to advocate for blacks, women, gay men and
women, the poor, the old and the young.
Before Mr. Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network, Mrs. Clinton promised
to champion government reform and drew applause by talking about women’s
cleaning up messes made by others.
“When I walk into the Oval Office in 2009, I’m afraid I’m going to lift up the
rug and I’m going to see so much stuff under there,” she told a few hundred
black political figures and others at a Manhattan hotel.
“You know, what is it about us always having to clean up after people?” she
added. “But this is not just going to be picking up socks off the floor.
This is going to be cleaning up the government.”
Mrs. Clinton spoke a day before a rival for the Democratic presidential
nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, is scheduled to address the group.
Several other candidates have also appeared at the group’s convention this week,
including John Edwards of North Carolina and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico.
Mrs. Clinton met earlier yesterday with C. Vivian Stringer, coach of the Rutgers
women’s basketball team, which was the target of an on-air racial and sexual
slur by the radio host Don Imus, who has since been fired for the remark.
In her comments at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, N.J., Mrs. Clinton said the
basketball team might have created an opportunity to break down barriers to
equality.
“This could be one of those defining moments for your generation,” she told the
audience.
Mrs. Clinton told Mr. Sharpton’s group that the coach and the players “taught us
all a lesson” about responding to attacks.
“It took these extraordinary young women to say enough is enough,” she said,
“and we need to stand with them and be clear that as women we will not put up
with the degradation and demeaning treatment that is too often put upon young
women.”
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