Clinton asks R.I. supporters to give her their delegates in the March 4 primary

2/24/08Hillary Clinton told about 5,000 supporters at Rhode Island College Sunday "this little state has a big voice on March the 4th in helping to choose the next president. There are 32 delegates up for grabs in the R.I. primary.

A large contingency of nurses, educators, seniors and women voters showed their support for the N.Y. senator. There was an overall tone of women's empowerment throughout the rally, as the crowd chanted, "Yes She Can," and waved "Women Can Do It Better" signs.

Clinton focused heavily on the issue of universal health care. "It's going to take all the passion and dedication we can muster to finally right the wrong that has plagued America, our failure to provide quality, affordable health care to every single American," she told supporters. "I don't see this election as about me I see it as about you, about your lives, your families, your futures," she said. She went on to trumpet her success with the Children's Health Insurance Program and providing health care to middle-class children throughout Rhode Island.

Clinton called the presidency the hardest job in the world, and asked supporters "to consider hiring me for the hardest job." She declared," the stakes are high, the challenges are big, but so are the opportunities."

Clinton spent a significant portion of the speech targeting Democratic rival, Barack Obama. "I could stand up here and say, let's just get everybody together, let's get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect," she said.

"Of all of our differences, the one that is just inexplicable is his refusal to put forth a plan for universal health care and his continuing attacks on my plan to do so," she said. "Senator Obama says one thing in speeches and his campaign does something else." "He says he is for Universal Healthcare, but his plan is not, his plan cannot cover everyone because there is no requirement that everyone be covered," she said.

"The best way to know what someone will do in the future is to find out what they have already done. "There is no contradiction between change and experience," she said.