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Clinton hammers away at energy issue
The Associated Press
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., campaigns today at Guilford College.
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Published: May 2, 2008
Updated: 05/02/2008 05:53 pm
GREENSBORO - Sen. Hillary Clinton hammered away at high energy prices in a campaign stop at Guilford College this afternoon, as she continues her effort to power her way around rival Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton, speaking to a crowd of about 700, promised to launch an investigation of oil companies, challenge OPEC and tap the nation's strategic oil reserves as a way to relieve the current gas crunch.
And Clinton said that consumers need a break this summer in the federal gasoline tax.
"We should ask the oil companies this summer to pay the gas tax out of their own pockets, instead of you paying it," Clinton said. "I think it is time to go after the oil companies ... because they have had these record profits."
During a speech that lasted about 40 minutes, Clinton touched on many of the themes that have dominated her campaign, including affordable health care, education and ending the war in Iraq.
Clinton was introduced at the rally by Tammie Bright, a Cherryville woman who appeared in a Clinton campaign ad asking the senator about gas prices. Bright said that Clinton's personal touch made an impact on her.
"She personally called me on the cell phone and spoke to me like we were everyday people, like family," Bright said. "That's why I chose to go from Republican to Democrat.
"She can pull us out of this mess that the Republicans have gotten us into," Bright told the crowd.
A number of students in the audience support Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's rival in the Democratic primary, but wanted to hear what Clinton had to say.
But Heather Siegel, a Guilford College senior, is behind Clinton all the way.
"I've always been a Hillary supporter from Day 1, even though most people at the college are for Obama," Siegel said.
Clinton never mentioned Obama by name, but pointed to her experience as a reason that Democrats should give her "a big, big vote in North Carolina."
"Think about it as a hiring decision," Clinton said. "Who would you hire the toughest job in the world?"
But either way, Clinton said, America has passed a great milestone.
"We can look into the eyes of any African-American child or American girl and say 'you can grow up to become president,'" Clinton said.
Obama is scheduled to be in Charlotte today for a rally, then both candidates will speak tonight in Raleigh at the N.C. Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
The candidates' family members also campaigned in North Carolina today.
Michelle Obama appeared at a rally in Durham, and Chelsea Clinton spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people at Salem College. Her message was clear to those gathered at Clewel Patio in the heart of the women's college: Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for the presidency of the United States.
She took questions for about an hour on a range of issues, from heath care and college financial aid to the war in Iraq. When one student asked whether she and her mother disagreed on anything, Chelsea Clinton said there's little they do disagree on beyond books and movies.
"I truly am my mother's daughter," she said.
After the event, she headed to Lexington to campaign.
Before traveling to North Carolina, Barack Obama campaigned in Indiana, another state where voters go to the polls on Tuesday.
He drew laughter from an audience there when he called the gas-tax holiday "a Shell game," adding that it would mean little for hard-pressed consumers.
Polls point toward a particularly close finish in Indiana, which is next door to Obama's home state of Illinois.
Surveys show him with a dwindling advantage in North Carolina, and Clinton decided to spend all of Friday and Saturday in the state before returning to Indiana for a final push.
The two primaries have 187 national convention delegates at stake.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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