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Published:Monday, March 3, 2008
The best fighters are those with experience, the Youngstown boxer told Clinton and the crowd.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — They’re not all voting for Barack Obama — the twentysomethings, that is.
Many were there, scattered among the crowd of 1,100 watching and listening to Hillary Clinton at her rally Sunday at Austintown Fitch High School.
National polls have given the impression that Obama has captured the youth vote.
Brianna Pauley, 21, of Canfield begs to differ. “I support [Clinton’s] views on health care,” she said. “That’s a huge problem right now. I like that she wants health care for everybody,” said Pauley, who’s in training to be a nurse and recently encountered a hospital waiting room where half the people there didn’t have insurance.
“The middle class is paying for that,” Pauley said, adding that she doesn’t like Obama’s lack of experience. “His record isn’t there.”
Randy Keller, 25, of Warren concurred. “Health care is the big issue. Everybody should be covered,” he said.
“Especially in this community,” said his sister Rachele, 16, who said she wishes she could vote.
It’s Clinton’s experience that makes her valuable, echoed many of her supporters crowded into the Fitch gymnasium.
“She’s been there. She has the experience,” Randy Keller said.
Joyce Hurr, 72, of Youngstown said as much. “She knows what went on in eight years in the White House.”
When Clinton finally made her way through her screaming, sign-waving supporters to a small square stage in the midst of the crowd, she had a familiar figure with her.
Kelly Pavlik, the middleweight boxing champion from Youngstown, escorted her to the platform, then introduced her.
“The best fighters,” he told the crowd, “are the ones that have the experience.”
Pavlik said he’s concerned about what the future holds for his 2-year-old daughter.
“We do need change right now — we gotta start making that,” he said. “And I do think Hillary’s the person.”
“I love what he said about his daughter,” Clinton responded. “That’s what it’s really about. What kind of world will we leave our children and grandchildren?”
Clinton said she wants a comeback for Youngstown and Ohio in economic prosperity.
“Sometimes, you get knocked down and don’t know it’s coming,” she said. “I remember Black Monday,” she said. “A lot of hard-working people showed up to find the gates of the steel mills padlocked.
“Like, ‘You don’t matter anymore; we’re picking up and going somewhere else,’” she continued.
“But I have seen in past weeks the grit and determination of the people of Ohio,” she said, adding that “we need someone in the White House again who is a fighter.”
Clinton pointed to the economy as the “No. 1 issue,” and she slammed Republican front-runner John McCain for wanting to “continue Bush’s policies.”
She said that she wants to get back to having a “manufacturing policy” in America.
“A country that doesn’t make anything can’t stay strong,” she said. “I don’t feel comfortable that most of the steel we have now comes from other countries.”
Clinton also pledged to do away with “special-interest giveaways Bush has doled out” to Wall Street, oil companies and pharmaceutical companies.
Clinton also said the country is more dependent on foreign oil now than it was on 9/11.
“They take our money and fund extremism against us. I’m not into holding hands with the Saudis. I’m into holding them accountable,” she said.
Clinton said the country needs clean, renewable energy, and producing it will create “green-collar jobs that put Youngstown to work.”
Health care, of course, was front and center with Clinton as she assured she has a way to pay for a universal plan.
She said that children deserve a good start with preschool education, and she wants to see college graduates spend “some years in public service jobs” in exchange for having their school debt forgiven.
She also said that America needs to restore its place in the world, and that will start with the end of the war in Iraq. Veterans of that war, she said, deserve compensation and support when they come home.
Clinton and Obama are in a close fight for Ohio in this Tuesday’s primary. Ohio and Texas are critical for Clinton. Texas’ primary is also Tuesday.
“If you give me the honor of your vote Tuesday, I promise I will work for you every single day,” she said. “Put a champion back in the White House.”
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I don't care if she stands next to Jesus Christ himself, she is not getting my vote.
That comment just shows your ignorance!
Ignorance would be voting for her because she is standing next to Pavlik. Quite frankly I feel insulted. Of course she is clever to use Pavlik to appeal to young voters, but she has no idea what Black Monday was like for our valley and her husband could have helped this valley with DFAS 4000 jobs, but needed to secure the vote in Louisiana. The Clintons over looked the Valley in 91, and I just can trust the words that come out of her mouth.
I'm sorry to hear that, philobeto. Hillary definitely has my vote. She's been an advocate for children and women for decades now, also for families. She's a doer and a champion for the people, and with the state our country is in right now, we definitely need a fighter in there to clean up the mess.
When she stood up for the women around the world at that Conference in Beijing back in '95, defying the oppressive Chinese officials who wanted her to tone down her stance, she didn't. She stood up and passionately argued against the abuse women suffer throughout the world, stating that women's rights can't be separate from human rights.
She cares deeply, though some people may not see it, but her advocacy and fighting for children, families, and women, do endear her to me.
She isn't perfect by any means, but then nobody is. She can't fix every problem and every issue that each American faces every day, but then no human being can. But she will definitely stand up for us and try her best to cover as many issues as possible. I envy her intelligence and drive.
Here's a little Side-by-Side comparison by year I created of the candidates, using their official presidential websites and wikipedia. Hope it's helpful to some undecided folks:
http://www.diversityj.com/HillaryObamaCo...
Jayling
This comment is directed to Mr. Pavlic and his Public Relations Manager. I am glad to read that Kelly is so interested in his daughters well fare and I wish him and his family the best, however the well fare of other young people must not be as important or his PR man would have had the courtesy to answer two letters requesting Mr.Pavlics appearance in Salem on March 15th.
The request was emailed per their instruction as they were meeting that day.I again contacted them a week or so later to no avail. The Salem Skateboard & BMX Assoc.Inc, a non- profit,requested Mr. Pavlic attend, as Honored Guest, the "Youth Health Awareness"Membership Drive to be held at Kent State Salem City Centre on North Lincoln Ave. in Salem,Ohio from 1 to 4 Pm, Saturday the 15th.
The reason Mr . Pavlic was singled out is because he is a shining example of a youth who overcame many obstacles and through desire and hard devoted work , he is reaching his lofty goal.I appluade him, however it is very dissapointing when his business managers do not have the courtesy to answer our letters.We can live with regrets but to be ignored says volumns.
It`s not too late to respond but we are happy to announce that our State Senator, State Representative , State, County , and local Health organizations will be in attendance and our youth will know there are those who care.
Sincerely,
Bill Hannay, Project Director, Thw Salem Skateboard & BMX Association Inc.
Wow, that was VERY unprofessional behavior for someone who claims to be a project director. If being ignored says volumes, what does whining in public say for you and your organization? I would say it makes you look like immature children with an inflated sense of entitlement. Not to mention it was self-serving BS that has nothing to do with the story these comments are supposed to be about.
I'm for Obama but Hillary has made a strong surge over the past 24 hours or so. I think she's going to do well on Tuesday and it's just a question of how well.
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