 May 15, 2008
Posted: 03:40 PM ET
From CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt BATH, South Dakota (CNN) – Campaigning in rural South Dakota - one of the last two states to hold a primary on June 3 - Hillary Clinton focused on agriculture Thursday, drawing parallels with the work she’s done with upstate New York farms and attacking John McCain for not supporting the bi-partisan Farm Bill passed today. “The idea of getting to a legislative compromise on something as complex as the Farm Bill is a huge undertaking, but it was finally accomplished,” said Clinton from the porch of a farmhouse. “President Bush says he’ll veto this bill and Sen. McCain said he’d do exactly the same thing as President Bush. You know, they’re like two sides of the same coin, and it doesn’t amount to much change does it?”
This was Clinton’s first appearance on the campaign trail since her overwhelming victory in West Virginia’s primary and John Edwards’ endorsement of Barack Obama. The endorsement combined with the increasing number of superdelegates siding with Obama have only further fueled questions about Clinton’s future in the race. “I’ve never been impatient with democracy,” Clinton told hundreds of supporters, many of them farmers. “I think actually letting people vote is on balance a really good thing and has served our country well over many, many years. So it’s a privilege to be campaigning in South Dakota,” she said, adding that she and husband President Clinton would be there often between now and the primary date. As is often the case, Clinton gently jabbed Obama for his health care plan that she says isn’t universal and for his lack of support of her proposed “gas tax holiday.” “A lot of folks don’t like what I’ve proposed, but tell them to come up with something else,” she said. “If you don’t have an answer to the problem, then keep your peace. Otherwise come up with your own answer.” An enthusiastic, 35-year-old male supporter, Ryan Reinhardt, offered his services as Vice President, giving a long list of “blue-collar worker” credentials and telling Clinton, “I’ve got more life experience than any man I know and I would love to be your Vice President.” Caught off-guard and laughing, she replied, “You’d be a lot of fun around the White House, I can tell." Filed under: Hillary Clinton
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
