I have been inspired to begin blogging by my friend brian71490. A former conservative activist, he realized that he was a progressive in denial while watching one of Senator Obama's riveting speeches. This evening , brian71490 and I went to see Senator Clinton speak at Bowie State University.
Senator Clinton was introduced by a series of Maryland politicians, each one more powerful than the next. First, Jack Johnson referred to Lt. Gov. Brown as "Governor Brown." I am not very familiar with Brown, but if his speech is any indication then he has a great future in front of him. O'Malley followed with a dramatic oration.
The real action began when Clinton herself took the floor. A skilled speaker (no surprises there), the Senator hit the ground running, attacking Bush's fear mongering ways and describing his presence in office as a "seven year detour" away from the creation of a more perfect union.
Clinton addressed the environment and expressed her belief that there is a need to create "green collar jobs" including solar panel designers and environmental engineers. This is a new phrase for my vocabulary and one that I will certainly be using in the future. No complaints from this writer about the environmental stance.
The Senator from New York flowed smoothly from the environment to scientific policy and the potential of those in power to prevent medical progress. On this topic, Clinton reassured the crowd that her administration would "end the war on science" and increase funding for government research in all branches of science, at which point this particular blogger stood up and applauded.
Regarding college (an educational institution which this writer will hopefully be participating in this fall), Clinton talked the talk of a true educational populist: she assured the crowd that she would make college more affordable, minimize the debt of an average student, and end predatory lending. For those in the audience at the pre-college level, Clinton passionately displayed her displeasure with excessive standardized testing and a certain piece of educational legislation passed by the current president.
On the foreign policy front, Clinton spoke of the potential for international stability under her administration and a revival of the U.S.A as a moral force in the world. Clinton added that she would work to once again make the U.S.A an example to be followed, saying that "a country must have followers to be a leader." It seems as if her most well received (and possibly most effective) sound bite came when she told the audience that "there is no Democratic foreign policy or Republican foreign policy-just American foreign policy."
All in all, Clinton delivered an impressive platform and created a memorable evening for her supporters.