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In Tampa, Clinton Bypasses Palin Questions

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Sen. Hillary Clinton greets supporters after speaking during a "Change We Can Believe In" rally Monday in Tampa.

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By WILLIAM MARCH and CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2008

TAMPA - In her first appearance in Tampa since losing the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Monday, but refused to criticize the newer woman on the presidential campaign scene, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"Barack and I may have started on two separate paths, but we are on one journey now," Clinton said.

The crowd and the speakers at the event appeared to consist largely of former Clinton supporters who now back Obama, but her speech was aimed at persuading those who don't, or who may be wavering.

She reprised lines from her speech at the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago, saying, in effect, that anyone who supported her ought to support Obama.

Referring to her 35 years working in politics and public policy issues, she said, "I haven't done that to see us squander this opportunity. This is bigger than any one person: It's way bigger than Barack and me."

Clinton spoke to a crowd estimated by organizers at about 2,300 at the All People's Life Center in East Tampa after two previous stops during the day in Florida: a forum in Kissimmee and a presentation to unions in Orlando.

Several times, she declined to discuss Palin, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's running mate, who has been criticized as lacking experience. Instead, Clinton shifted the discussion to differences between Republicans and Democrats and the errors she said Republicans including President Bush have made during the past eight years.

When an audience member shouted out during her speech, "Tell us about Palin," she responded, "I don't think that's what this election is about.

"This election is about the differences between us and the Republican Party. Anybody who believes that the Republicans, whoever they are, can fix the mess they created, probably believes that the iceberg could have saved the Titanic."

Asked by reporters after her speech whether she considers Palin qualified to be president, she again declined to answer directly.

"I'm going to stay focused on the issues and I'm going to keep talking about the issues because I think that's what matters to the American people," she said.

She added that having Palin on the ticket is "a great milestone for our nation."

"The Democrats did it in 1984; it took awhile but the Republicans got around to doing in this year," she said. However, she added, "That's not the determinant as to who should be our president."

Clinton also couldn't help referring to her own quest for the nomination, and to the fact that Florida was one of her strongholds.

When an audience member shouted, "I love you Hillary," she responded, "I love you too. I especially love Tampa and Hillsborough County for supporting me in the primary."

Clinton also said she thinks Florida Democrats are no longer angry over the national party's sanctions and the candidates' boycott of the state over its too-early primary.

"All of that is in the past," she said. "This election is about the future."

Several attendees at Clinton's speech said they have made the transition to supporting Obama, although some said it took time:

•Cindy Bauer, a lifelong Democrat from Tampa, said she was "very disappointed" by Clinton's loss. "It took a few days, but I got over it. ... There's too much at stake for the future of our country," she said.

Bauer said McCain's choice of Palin only solidified her decision to support Obama. "Anyone who tells me that I shouldn't get an abortion if I choose to, that's it," she said.

•Chris Cernosek of Tampa, a no-party voter who couldn't vote in the Democratic primary, said it was tough seeing Clinton lose the nomination and acknowledged, "I was on the fence at first."

She sees Clinton as an influential role model for younger women, and brought her two daughters, ages 7 and 11, to the speech. "It's wonderful to see women playing such an important role in our nation," she said.

State Rep. Arthenia Joyner and former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, both ardent Clinton supporters, spoke before Clinton at the event, endorsing Obama.

Not all Democratic women who supported Clinton have boarded the bandwagon, however.

Julie Harris, a longtime local Democratic Party activist who worked in Clinton's campaign, wasn't at the rally, but said in an interview Monday that she's backing McCain.

"I'm looking at the top of the ticket and find him to be very inexperienced," she said of Obama. "Maybe I've become more conservative as I've grown older."

Clinton, however, said she's not concerned that significant numbers of her backers won't get behind Obama.

That concern, she said, "is certainly receding. There is an enormous amount of focus on this election ... and that's because women as well as men know what's at stake."

Former Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson has dismissed the notion that Clinton would take on Palin.

"Some might enjoy the spectacle, but don't expect Hillary Clinton to play along," he wrote in his New Republic blog. "It wouldn't be good for the Democratic Party, or the cause of women's rights."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com. Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at cwade@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.

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