Hillary Clinton campaigns in West Virginia Health care, coal and steel top issues By Scott Finn Studio lead: For the first time since 1960, West Virginia will play a key role in deciding who will be the Democratic nominee for president. Both candidates are turning their attention to the state. Today, Senator Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Charleston and Beckley as part of his presidential campaign. You can hear coverage of his visit this afternoon during All Things Considered. But yesterday belonged to Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. She held a town-hall meeting at Capitol High School in Charleston, then met with veterans at an American Legion Post in Huntington. We have reports from Clark Davis in Huntington and Scott Finn in Charleston. Finn: First, let’s talk about what Clinton didn’t talk about. She didn’t mention her rival, Barack Obama, or the big speech on race Obama gave the day before. She only mentioned Republican candidate John McCain once, in reference to his comment that troops could stay in Iraq one hundred years. And on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, she only talked about it in passing, saying she wants to get our troops out, but in a “responsible” way. The bleachers at the Capitol High School gymnasium weren’t completely full, and almost half the people there were high school students. The rest were mostly older people, prounion, died-in-the-wool Democrats. Health care was on the minds of a lot of people, including Lauren Wahler of Charleston. While she was waiting for Clinton, Wahler talked about why she and her family were there. Wahler: One of our biggest things is we want to get Medicare to cover physical therapy. I have Multiple Schlerosis, and I cannot extend my legs, because they have been in a chair for 12 years. And the only thing that will keep that from happening is physical therapy. They want my husband to do it. That’s what they say, he can do it. Yeah, but he has to take care of my boys, and me. And he really has to work. Finn: Clinton entered the gymnasium and stood on a platform in the middle of the floor. She was introduced by Governor Manchin, who has not said who he supports in the race. She skipped giving a speech and got straight to questions – including one about helping the people who take care of the sick and people with disabilities.
Clinton: Caregiving is one of the most important jobs in our society. It’s one of the hardest. It’s emotionally and physically and financially demanding. And we sure don’t do very much to help people. So we need to provide more help for caregivers. I would give a tax credit for caregiving, and let me tell you why. If you’re a family member taking care of a child with a disability, or a spouse or a parent, if all the caregivers in West Virginia and America were to stop tomorrow – no more caregiving, no more help with bathing, no more help with eating, no more supervision – it would cost our country $300 billion to replace the care that is given out of love and devotion. So don’t you think we ought to help the caregivers who are doing so much to take caree of so many of our fellow citizens. Finn: When Clinton finished, an older man stood up to say that he suffered from Alzheimers. He said his caregiver didn’t have the health insurance to take care of herself. Older man: That issue you are talking about there right now, I have that problem. And the lady that takes care of me, she doesn’t get credit for what she does for me. How do I go about getting the help she needs to take care of me? Finn: That got Clinton talking about her signature issue – covering the uninsured. She told a story about a pregnant woman in Pomeroy, Ohio – right across the river from West Virginia – who died because she didn’t have enough money to receive pre-natal care. Clinton: But think about this. To me, you see, it is morally wrong that in the United States of America, a young woman and her baby would die because they didn’t have health insurance. But it is also wrong that we would end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to save her life, when if she had gotten that examination, maybe both lives could have been saved. So you see, this is a moral problem for our country, and its an economic problem for our country. Finn: Like other presidential candidates in recent elections, Clinton talked up her support for Clean Coal technology. She remains uncommitted on mountaintop removal, and didn’t mention it despite the presence of several mountaintop removal protesters in the crowd. She said she wants to crack down on foreign countries that dump their steel on the world market. And she said the U.S. needs to demand higher labor and safety standards in countries like China. Clinton: We also have to provide many more investigations of products that come into our market. Look at what China has sent in. Lead toys. Contaminated pet food. And you’ve seen the latest problem? There’s a really important drug that people how have blood clots have to take, it’s called Helperin. And what we’ve found out is the factory in China was cutting corners and contaminating it. Now, it’s not all the Chinese fault. It’s an American company that set up that factory. So we’ve got to get tough on American
companies that go overseas to manufacture and cut corners and don’t give us the health and safety requirements we need. Finn: Clinton abruptly ended the town hall meeting after about 45 minutes. It was three o’clock, and about half her audience was already leaving because school was over. Her supporters said they were happy with what they heard. Dena Jessee of St. Paul, Virginia drove more than three hours to see Clinton. Jessee: She’s a very smart lady. I think she would be fair to everybody in the United States. She don’t look at it like a racial race. Finn: Some other Clinton supporters indicated they may not vote Democratic in the fall if Obama wins the nomination. Here’s Paul Myers from Clay County. Myers: If Hillary wasn’t the nominee of the Democratic Party, I’m voting for Ralph Nader. I just don’t care that much about Obama. I just don’t know that much about him. When you see Hillary, what you see is what you get. Finn: For West Virginia Public Broadcasting, I’m Scott Finn in Charleston.