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Clinton in Valley: Obama is best pick decision
John McCain will campaign today at YSU and in Columbiana County.
CAMPBELL — The choice for voters between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is simple, former President Clinton said.
It comes down to who makes better decisions, Clinton told a crowd of about 1,800 at Campbell Memorial High School on Thursday.
During the presidential campaign, Obama has made better decisions, said Clinton, a fellow Democrat, speaking on behalf of the party’s nominee.
“Obama’s got better economic policies, a better energy policy to make us energy-independent, a way better health-care policy to bring down the cost of health care to ordinary families, [and] provide insurance to all who don’t have it,” Clinton told the enthusiastic audience.
Clinton was more than an hour late for the rally and spoke for about 20 minutes.
The wait didn’t bother Sabrena Douglass of Youngstown.
“My back is a little sore from standing, but I wasn’t going to leave until I saw him,” she said. “I just love Bill. He delivered.”
He “delivered” even though his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama, Douglass said.
“He’s not discouraged that his wife didn’t win,” she said.
Though Clinton didn’t say he was discouraged, he said: “Do I wish she would have won? Of course. But that’s not the point. You’re doing the hiring decision.”
Clinton made numerous references to his wife’s campaign during Thursday’s speech.
His wife won the Ohio Democratic primary with a huge margin of victory in the Mahoning Valley — something he mentioned.
But that’s over, and Clinton said he and his wife are supporting Obama.
“The most important thing you can do is elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Clinton said.
Clinton never mentioned McCain by name.
When asked for a comment about Clinton’s statements, Paul Lindsay, a McCain campaign spokesman, said: “Barack Obama has been so caught up in his blind ambition for the presidency that he has failed to learn two important lessons from Bill Clinton — how to understand the challenges facing hard-working Americans ... and how to win Ohio.”
Most polls show Ohio as a toss-up between the two.
“It was awesome,” Roxanne Johnson of Youngstown said of Clinton’s speech in Campbell. “He really captured my emotions toward the election of Barack Obama.”
This was Clinton’s first public appearance in the Valley since he ran for re-election in 1996.
He attended a private fundraiser in March at the Canfield home of local businessman Bruce Zoldan. Clinton raised about $100,000 for the then-presidential campaign of his wife.
McCain was to have spent Thursday night in the Mahoning Valley.
He will be interviewed today on ABC’s “Good Morning America” at Youngstown State University’s Beeghly Center.
The show airs live from 7 to 9 a.m.
McCain was to be interviewed live shortly after the show begins, said Bridgette Maney, the show’s director of publicity.
Two of the show’s four hosts — Robin Roberts and Chris Cuomo — will be at Beeghly. Diane Sawyer will broadcast from a school in Pittsburgh, and Sam Champion will be back at the New York studio.
Roberts and Cuomo will also interview those at Beeghly watching the live show, Maney said.
Why Youngstown?
“Ohio is a very important state in this pivotal election,” Maney said. “We decided that we’d go to Youngstown. We enjoyed the area when we were there.”
“Good Morning America” aired live Sept. 17 from a farm in Gustavus, a northern Trumbull County township.
McCain was interviewed on that edition of the show.
After the show, McCain is having a rally around 10 a.m. today in the United High School gymnasium on state Route 9 in Hanoverton.
skolnick@vindy.com