SLTrib: Former president sends message of hope for U.S.

Former President Bill Clinton addresses the audience during a campaign fund-raiser stop in Utah Sunday for his wife and presidential hopeful, Sen.Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. (Danny Chan La/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Hillary's stand-in
Former president sends message of hope for U.S.
The 'old horse' can still wow 'em
By Robert Gehrke

Former President Bill Clinton told an adoring crowd of supporters Sunday that his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, offers the best hope for the United States to restore its global standing, address inequality and bridge divides in the world.

"The first thing we have to do is send a big, loud signal to the rest of the world that the United States is back in the cooperation business, we're back in the diplomacy business," Clinton said. "We don't have any higher priority in the world than getting our standing back. She would do that more quickly than anyone else."

He would be supporting Hillary Clinton even if they weren't married, he told the standing-room only crowd of 1,500, because she is the most qualified, non incumbent candidate he would have the opportunity to vote for in the 40 years he has been voting.

Clinton, who arrived late wearing a gray jacket, white shirt and no tie, spun a trademark folksy, extemporaneous speech. He was greeted by whoops and shouts of "We love you, Bill."

"Lemme tell you, I'm really looking forward to this. I love being a surrogate," he said, joking that his wife has told him, "You have to work harder. Free campaign work is hard to get."

Clinton said he is mostly out of politics now, except in even years. "I'm sort of this old horse in the stable and they trot me out to see if I can still run a few laps. 'Oh, look. He can still move,' " he joked.

Clinton said the three biggest challenges in the country are growing inequality, unsustainable lifestyles and identity conflicts that divide groups, and Hillary Clinton can do the most to deal with those issues.

He acknowledged that his wife has high negative ratings in public opinion polls, but that is a result, he said, of 16 years of Republican attacks.

"I think she looks pretty good to be 60 years old and taken all that heat," he said.

Perhaps the biggest applause for Clinton came when he criticized the growth in spending while Republicans controlled government.

"They used to denigrate me as a liberal, they increased spending at more than twice the rate I did. I was a conservative," Clinton said.

In the coming days, the former president said, Hillary Clinton would be giving speeches on the potential economic benefits from policies that deter climate change.

After the 45-minute speech he spent nearly that much time shaking hands, posing for pictures and signing copies of his new book, Giving.

A line of supporters more than a block long began forming well before the doors to the University of Utah's ballroom opened, and people were pleased with what they heard.

"It's so easy to feel helpless and hopeless because of the events in the last seven years and to come away from this with hope that we can restore our place in the world," said Georgette Leventis.

Jean Ballard said the president's speech was "remarkable."

"I think he's one of the best speakers I've ever heard," she said. "I think he's just a brilliant man and I hope with the two of them we should be able to get our country back on track."

Tickets for the event cost $50 each, and the 1,200 seats sold out in just a few days, organizers said. Three hundred standing-room-only tickets, at $30 each, also sold out.

Clinton appeared earlier at a $500-per-person fundraiser at the home of Barry and Amy Baker near Park City with a private event for those making the maximum $2,300 contribution.

The two events are expected to bring in $350,000 or more to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Sen. Clinton had been planning to speak at a fundraiser in Utah in October, but canceled due to scheduling conflicts.

Before the event, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson acknowledged that there was concern among organizers that they would be able to sell even 400 tickets for the event.

Wilson was one of a handful of prominent Utah Democrats who endorsed Hillary Clinton on Saturday. Others included former U.S. Rep. Karen Shepherd, former state Sen. Karen Hale, state Rep. Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake County Councilmen Randy Horiuchi and Joe Hatch, and Democratic National Committeewoman Helen Langan.

Horiuchi said Clinton's two events exceeded expectations.

"There was an air of excitement for Senator Clinton that President Clinton adds," he said. "We have, for the first time in a long time, the opportunity for a Democrat to do well in Utah."
Utah Republican Party Chairman Stan Lockhart isn't so sure.

"I think the people of this state want someone who represents their values and their principles, and it's hard to believe that Hillary Clinton is the family values candidate," he said.

Utah had been slow to warm to Hillary Clinton. Utahns had given just $111,243 to Clinton through the end of September, according to figures from the Center For Responsive Politics, compared with $229,190 for Democrat Barack Obama and $4.6 million to Republican Mitt Romney. Obama had held a fundraiser in Utah and Romney, a Mormon who ran the Salt Lake Olympics, has held several.

After the event, Clinton headed back to the airport and left for Las Vegas. He had a fundraiser scheduled Sunday evening in Las Vegas, which has one of the early presidential primaries.
Republican National Committee spokesman Paul Lindsay discounted Hillary Clinton's prospects in Utah.

"Utah voters twice rejected Bill Clinton's candidacy, just like they will reject his wife's plans to raise taxes on working families in order to pay for the $763 billion in new government spending she has proposed," Lindsay said, citing the RNC's cost estimate on Clinton's new programs.

Bill Clinton has not fared well campaigning in Utah, finishing third in the state behind President George H.W. Bush and Texas billionaire Ross Perot in 1992.

His declaration in 1996 to create the 1.7-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah is still viewed with disdain by many Utahns, particularly in rural parts of the state.