(06-28) 19:03 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
The leftiest big city on the Left Coast was Clinton country on Monday,
with
former President Clinton continuing his blockbuster book tour and Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton headlining a Democratic fund-raiser where she vowed
to defeat the Republicans' "extraordinarily ruthless machine."
Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of
Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton
told several hundred sup****ters -- some of whom had ponied up as much as
$10,000 to attend -- to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by
President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.
"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped
you,"
Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track,
we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going
to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Just blocks away at San Francisco's historic Ferry Building, President
Clinton kicked off the latest leg of his West Coast tour promoting his
best-selling book, "My Life." Wearing a navy blue suit and a rust-colored
tie, Clinton signed books for at least 3,000 people, many of whom had
waited
hours under brilliant sun****ne to catch a glimpse of him.
At one point, Clinton stopped the fast-moving line of fans to pose for a
photo with 14-year old Thomas Nelson and his 12-year old brother Joseph,
who
had traveled 50 miles with their father from Petaluma.
"I've never shaken the hand of a president," said Thomas, who added that
he
had one grandma who couldn't stand Clinton and one who thought he was the
best president ever.
"Even better than George Wa****ngton," said Thomas.
While Sen. Clinton's duties in Wa****ngton and the former president's
far-flung speaking engagements can keep them apart for weeks at a time,
friends said the Clintons' joint visit to the Bay Area was a homecoming of
sorts for both of them.
As president, Clinton visited California some 70 times and focused much of
his political and fund-raising energies on the heavily Democratic San
Francisco Bay area. The visits by both Clintons increased while their
daughter, Chelsea, was a student at Stanford University in Palo Alto.
"He was here so dad gum much when he was president that outside of
Arkansas,
his highest level of sup****t is probably the Bay Area," said Martha
Whetstone, executive director of the Bar Association of San Francisco and
a
longtime friend of both Clintons. "And San Francisco has always been
Hillary
country. They get her here -- there's a real appreciation for independent,
intelligent women."
The Clintons were following largely separate schedules throughout the day,
with Sen. Clinton heading two hours south to Monterey County to appear at
a
public policy forum hosted by former White House chief of staff Leon
Panetta, and President Clinton headlining a fund raiser Monday evening for
the American Himalayan Foundation, a charity run by Sen. Dianne
Feinstein's
husband, Richard Blum.
Sen. Clinton called the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led
coalition
to an interim Iraqi government two days early a "positive step" but said
it
was too early to predict if the new government would be successful.
"Whether they take over today or take over Wednesday, the problems are
still
the same," she said.
Before leaving the forum, Sen. Clinton was asked what she thought of her
husband's book. "I loved it," she replied. "You've got to read all of it."
On Tuesday, President Clinton will continue his book tour at several stops
around the Bay Area and will be the star attraction at a fund-raiser for
House Democrats.
With Boxer leading her Republican opponent, Bill Jones, by a wide margin
in
recent public polls and California considered safely in Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry's hands, the Clintons' visit served more
as a vehicle to promote progressive political activism than to move a lot
of
votes, according to Bruce Cain, a political analyst at University of
California, Berkeley.
"There's a lot of stirring up of the Democratic base -- the juice is
flowing
among Democratic activists in an unprecedented way right now," Cain said.
"It comes at a time when groups need to get mobilized to make
contributions
and get themselves organized to go out and do grass roots activity in
battleground states."
California Republican Chairman Duf Sundheim said that while the Clintons
were welcome to come to the state and express their views, "history shows
their influence is minimal."
He pointed to both Clintons' sup****t last fall for Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis, who went on to be recalled in a landslide and replaced by
Republican
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Fordahl in Seaside, Calif., contributed to
this re****t.
URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/06/28/politics2039EDT0165.DTL
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Let the name calling begin!!! (its all you libs have)
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