Clinton stirs crowd

Senator sounds like presidential hopeful in Denver speech

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 25, 2006 at midnight

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U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sounded like a candidate for president in Denver on Monday, telling a crowd of cheering Democrats that the middle class is falling behind and it's time for the party to rally voters behind a plan to save the American dream.

"Incomes have been stagnant for five years and the Republicans have done nothing about the costs eating away at paychecks," Clinton told several hundred elected officials. "Democrats can be the change agents our country needs."

Clinton unveiled proposals to enable more Americans to attend college, expand health insurance, and give every American a retirement savings account. She said education, health care and a secure retirement are the pillars of a middle- class lifestyle, and the middle class was struggling to hold on to all those things.

"The simple fact is, the middle class is the core of America's greatness," said Clinton. "A lot of Americans can't work any harder, borrow much more, or save any less. It's time for a new direction."

Clinton appeared at the annual meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, which represents the centrist wing of the party.

More than 300 elected officials from around the country attended the meeting at the Hyatt Regency Denver that ended Monday.

The "American Dream Initiative" that Clinton unveiled was a yearlong project of the DLC. The group worked with several other policy groups to craft the proposal, which is intended to bring together the moderate and liberal wings of the party.

Clinton is widely regarded as a front-runner for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nominee.

Although she has not announced her candidacy, she has been speaking to Democratic groups around the country for months, and she has raised millions of dollars for her campaign war chest.

Dozens of people stood in line to talk to her after her speech, underscoring her superstar status within the party.

Mary Stack, a Democratic activist from Greeley who waited patiently to shake Clinton's hand, said the program she outlined could be a popular one.

"These are ideas that can energize voters," she said.

The DLC has been widely criticized by Web-based liberal activists for being too timid and not fighting hard enough against the Republicans. Many of the online bloggers - known as the "net roots" - have helped the party raise millions of dollars, and their criticism is being heard.

"The net roots are important to the discussion in our party," Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, chairman of the DLC, told the audience, adding that the DLC was reaching out to its critics to try to unify the party.

Colorado politicians were prominently featured at the event. In recent elections, Democrats have done well in Western states, including Colorado, and many of the delegates wanted to know how they had pulled it off.

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar told the group he had appealed to rural and suburban voters to win a seat that had been held by Republicans.

"I took out a very prominent Republican," said Salazar, referring to his opponent, Pete Coors. "Keep your eyes on Colorado in this election. For the last eight years we've had a lot of mediocrity in the governor's office; we're going to change that."

Salazar said the Democrats would need states like Colorado to win the presidency.

"The road to 2008 comes through Colorado," said Salazar. "What happens to the Democratic Party in the future depends on how well we do in the West."

Several speakers criticized President Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq, although none of them offered a plan to end the war.

"Iraq has become a tragic mess," said U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, of Indiana. "The Middle East, which they ignored, is aflame."

Bayh said America couldn't solve those problems alone, and needed to find allies.

"We don't have the financial or military ability to protect our security by ourselves," he said.

Living the dream

The "American Dream Initiative" is an opportunity agenda for the middle class and all who aspire to join its ranks. Here are the pillars of the initiative's agenda:

• College: Every American should have the opportunity and responsibility to go to college and earn a degree, or to get the lifelong training they need.

• Retirement: Every worker should have the opportunity and responsibility to save for a secure retirement.

• Business: Every business should have the opportunity to grow and prosper in the strongest private economy on earth, with the responsibility to equip workers with the same tools of success as management.

• Home ownership: Every individual should have the opportunity and responsibility to start building wealth from day one, and the security and community that come from owning a home.

• Health care: Every family should have the opportunity to afford health insurance for their children, and the responsibility to obtain it.

Source: Democratic Leadership Council

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