Hillary Says She Is Not What People Think

At the beginning of her campaign, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist said she was "famous but really unknown."

So I asked her Wednesday how that was going.

"One of the most common things people say to me is, 'You know, you are not at all like I thought you would be!' " Clinton said and then laughed uproariously. "And I find that a very high compliment!"

Having been analyzed and psychoanalyzed in the media for years, Clinton said going out and campaigning is actually a relief in some ways.

"I want people to make a judgment about me, what I stand for, the person I am, based on as much firsthand impression as possible," she said. "And I think that is happening."

And what kind of person is she?

"I am focused on bringing to the White House a roll-your-sleeves-up, let's-get-to-work, everybody-is-invited, good-ideas-are-welcome and hammer-out-what-we-need-to-do-together attitude," Clinton said.

Which instantly brought to my mind the image of Rosie the Riveter in the famous "We Can Do It!" poster of World War II.

Which is probably not an image Clinton would object to. Her pitch is that she can do it.

"I have a unique perspective from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," she said. "I think the country is yearning for a president who will both seek common ground and stand her ground."

But her opponents — both Republican and Democratic — say she is a polarizing figure. And won't that make it hard to accomplish anything should she be elected?

"I don't really know where that all comes from, but I think it's both inaccurate and out of date," Clinton said. "What I have done in the Senate, what I have done in this campaign really describes much more clearly what I will do as president."

And, in fact, she says it is President Bush who has been a polarizing figure.

"You know, one of the great regrets of the last six and a half years is the president was unwilling, disinterested, in making common cause with Democrats and even with a lot of Republicans, it turns out," she said.

She went on: "There are some issues like privatizing Social Security that are not going to go anywhere when I am president. But looking for ways we can enhance retirement security, protect Social Security, that is absolutely open for debate and discussion."

Clinton said that having been a first lady for eight years and now as the junior senator from New York, "I know what works and what doesn't work."

When I asked if voters wanted a less-partisan, less-ideological president in 2008, she responded: "I think what people really want is for America to start acting like America again and solving our problems and getting results and kind of moving forward with confidence and optimism."

She added: "As you might recall, there were a lot of people who weren't overjoyed to see me coming (to the Senate), but I knew I had a job to do."

She said that what was needed was "for people in the Congress to feel we are all in this together.

We may not agree 100 percent, but let's see how far we can get to actually come up with practical, commonsense solutions to the problems that we face."

While that might seem an obvious goal for a president, she said that isn't always the case in Washington now. A prime example of how things don't work, she said, is President Bush's pledge that he will veto legislation that would reauthorize and expand health insurance for the children of the working poor and some middle-class families.

"His party has lost ground in part because America is saying, wait a minute, we have a problem here," Clinton said. "We have 9 million children without insurance, and guess what? Most of them have parents who get up every day and go to work. And we are going to say we can't figure out how to help them get insurance?"

Clinton concluded, "That doesn't sound like the America we know and love, where we met no obstacles we couldn't overcome."

Clinton recently unveiled a new, sweeping health care proposal, and I asked her if voters didn't have a right to be skeptical about health care promises that come every four years.

"Well, I think that they have a right to question whether our political system can overcome both inertia and special interests," she said. "But what has changed is that the American people from all walks of life have seen this problem get worse in the face of inaction."

Clinton said that there are more uninsured people today, and "we have many people who have insurance except when they really need it, they are told their insurance policy doesn't cover what their doctor has prescribed."

Because of this, she said, "the consensus for health care reform is much broader and deeper than at any time that I am aware of going back decades. And that gives me a lot of hope."

Clinton was upbeat during most of the interview and at times she was downright chipper.

When I asked her how she was doing, she replied with a laugh: "I am still walkin' and talkin'. I'll get up in the morning, and I can walk and talk. It means I am still there!"

To find out more about Roger Simon, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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