Saturday, October 25, 2008

HIllary Clinton Speaks for Obama in Sunland Park

It was a warm, cloudless Saturday afternoon and, just as pleasant, the price of gas was $2.67.9 at some stations. Thus, the mood of the crowd at Elena Memorial Park in Sunland Park, which I estimate at 600-700, was mellow but enthusiastic as it received Hillary Clinton, campaigning for Obama on a regional stop which included Canutillo, Texas, and El Paso.

Cautiously optimistic, "but not yet confident," Clinton exhorted the crowd to work for Obama during the last 10 days of the campaign. She stressed that Obama would lower taxes on working families, "rather than extend tax cuts to the rich," and provided a litany of reasons the vast majority of voters should choose Obama over McCain, including a stronger concern for education, jobs, health care, and a stronger foreign policy. "Fool me once, and it's your fault; fool me twice, and it's my fault," she said, arguing that McCain would represent a continuation of the the major policies of the Bush administration. Urging her supporters to join Obama she said, "Senator Obama and I may have started out this campaign on different paths, but today we are on exactly the same journey..."

This was the most effective speech given to date in the South Valley on behalf of Obama. Whether it will be enough to raise the turnout in the South Valley above the level of four years ago remains to be seen.

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