CONCORD, N.H. - Kicking off the fall campaign season with her famous husband at her side, Senator Hillary Clinton yesterday portrayed herself as both a reformer and an experienced insider, telling a rapt audience of more than 3,000 that the next president needs both qualities to reverse the damage from eight years of what she called ``government of the few, and by the few and for the few.'' Speaking in a state where Bill Clinton resurrected his presidential campaign in 1992, the New York Democrat was hoping to blunt inroads by her leading rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a new face on the national political stage. Clinton pointed out that some of the great political reformers of the last century, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, were experienced politicians who knew how to get results, a reference to Obama's relative inexperience in his first term in the Senate. ``I know some people think you have to choose between change and experience. Well, with me, you don't have to choose,'' said Senator Clinton, who served eight years as the wife of the president before being elected to the US Senate from New York in 2000. ``I will bring my experience to the White House and begin to change our country starting on day one.'' If elected, she promised to send high-profile good-will ambassadors to nations around the world to spread the message that ``America is back.'' People began lining up to see the Clintons at 7:30 a.m. yesterday, more than five hours before the event. By noon, the line snaked all the way around the New Hampshire state house. Under a cloudless blue sky, people dressed in shorts and flip-flops chatted excitedly or listened to the relentlessly upbeat country and pop music over the campaign loudspeakers as they waited to see the prominent power couple. ``It doesn't matter how hot it is. I want to see Hillary,'' declared Giuseppina Chiappinelli, 65, who had driven from her home in Merrimack before dawn to be first in line for the event. The native of Italy said Hillary Clinton has the chance to join the ranks of Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi, and Margaret Thatcher as barrier breakers on the world stage. ``If people don't vote for her because she's a woman, that's wrong.'' Senator Clinton has consistently led in surveys of likely voters in New Hampshire's Democratic primary, scheduled for next January, but Obama pulled within eight points in a July survey for CNN/WMUR, 33 percent to 25 percent. Since then, Bill Clinton has made three appearances in New Hampshire with his wife, and the couple is scheduled to appear at another fall kickoff event in Iowa today. ``You need somebody in the White House who won't forget about you,'' said Bill Clinton, dressed casually in a pink open-neck shirt and white slacks. ``Because it's easy to forget when you're president. You get to fly around on your own airplane, and it's a real nice one. They play a song every time you walk into the room.'' But he said his wife won't forget: In his 40 years as a voter, Clinton said, ``Hillary is the best prepared to be president of any non-incumbent'' he's ever known. At the end of his 10-minute speech, Bill Clinton threw his arm around his wife's shoulders and kissed her on the right cheek. Senator Clinton said President Bush had badly damaged America's reputation in the world, while vastly increasing the budget deficit and presiding over an economy where the average worker's pay is stagnant and 47 million lack health insurance. ``It's not that they don't feel your pain,'' said Senator Clinton, dressed in a turquoise jacket and black pants. ``They don't even know that there is pain. If you are unable to pay the medical bill for a sick child, you are invisible to them.'' A White House spokesman could not be reached for comment. Also campaigning in New Hampshire yesterday were New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Senator John Edwards. Obama is scheduled to appear at a Labor Day Rally in Manchester today. Senator Clinton called for Bush and Congress to ``end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home safely and responsibly and as soon as possible.'' Afterward, several members of the audience said they were satisfied with what they saw. ``She's wonderful,'' said Margaret Gagne, 82. Republican Amy Labonville threw cold water on the rally. ``A lot of these people talk about making things better, but they don't know what it's like to be down,'' said Labonville. Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com
Source: The Boston Globe
