La Dernière Heure · 2004
Hillary “very confident”
Translated from the French. Original: La Dernière Heure, October 21, 2004 · French version
Hillary “very confident”
(21/10/2004)
STAFF CORRESPONDENT IN NEW YORK DAVID BENAYM
Meeting with the former First Lady,
convinced of a Kerry victory
NEW YORK - Between two field trips on behalf of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, senator from New York, takes a break in the den of Manhattan nightlife, at the legendary Limelight club, renamed Avalon, for the Democratic National Committee. One-on-one with the former First Lady.
With less than two weeks to go before the presidential election, what are your priorities for the rest of the campaign?
“After a heated debate on Iraq and foreign policy, Americans need to know what awaits them at home. The country’s economy is in danger. All the social gains of the Clinton years are in jeopardy, health insurance now protects only the better-off, education funding has been cut in half in four years. Our campaign effort in this final stretch is therefore focused on our domestic policy, because, in the end, it is what is closest to home that matters most to citizens.”
Are you confident about the result on November 2? What is your state of mind?
“I am very confident. Even if the race is very close, we are still going to see a clear victory for John Kerry and John Edwards. You know, a lot of people say this is the most important election of their lives. For me, that was 12 years ago. But this time, it is the future of my daughter and her generation that is at stake. We cannot let the current government go back to policies dating from the beginning of the last century. The clock is ticking, we are in the 21st century, while the Republicans are trying to turn the hands back. They want to use a time machine, to bring back laws that no longer make sense today.”
What is the greatest danger?
“In the next four years, the Supreme Court of the United States will see at least three new justices appointed, and we cannot afford to see extreme conservatives touch women’s right to choose abortion, or our children’s right to education. Crucial changes must take place while the conservatives of the Bush/Cheney camp are putting all their efforts into restricting our freedoms, the fundamental rights that Western countries have been fighting for for so many years.”
How must relations with European countries change?
“We must regain the trust of our allies. Times change, our enemies change; we must remain faithful, in our principles, to our long-standing friends, who include the European Community.”
How is your husband recovering from his operation?
“Bill is doing very well. He is taking his time with his convalescence, but he is recovering very well from the operation.”
Kerry took up Spanish to win over Hispanics
40 million voters are not to be overlooked!
WASHINGTON John Kerry made an effort to learn Spanish during the election campaign to win over the large Hispanic community in the United States, while avoiding showing off his knowledge of French in public, except when precious votes were at stake.
From a few basic words like “buenos días” at the start of the campaign, the Democratic candidate for the White House has in recent weeks come to deliver whole parts of his speeches in the language of the country’s main minority, nearly 40 million people.
“He reads Spanish well, but he doesn’t really dare speak it yet,” says Jorge Ramos, a Hispanic journalist and author of the book The Latino Wave, in which he argues that his community will choose the next president of the United States.
“I met him in Los Angeles after a speech read entirely in Spanish. He didn’t want to speak Spanish with me,” he told AFP,
Mr Ramos, who says he detected “a French accent” in the candidate’s Spanish.
On the other hand, John Kerry has not boasted of his knowledge of the language of Molière. Official explanation: “I imagine that if a large part of the population of the United States spoke French, he would have said a few words in that language,” according to José Villarreal, a Hispanic deputy chief of staff of the Kerry campaign.
In the end, the Democratic candidate did find some French-speaking voters.
On Monday, he spoke in French to the Haitian community of Orlando, in Florida, a state narrowly won four years ago by George W. Bush, where every vote counts.
STAFF CORRESPONDENT IN NEW YORK DAVID BENAYM
© La Dernière Heure 2004