Clinton says she would end ‘era of cowboy diplomacy’

Bob Gibson / Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: September 23, 2007

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton told a Charlottesville audience of more than 1,000 on Sunday that America needs a president who will get troops out of Iraq and restore the world's respect for America and its leadership.

Clinton said one of her first actions before taking office would be to assemble "distinguished Americans of both parties" to visit world leaders and make clear "a very simple message - the era of cowboy diplomacy is over."

"I don't think we've been well served for the last six-and-a-half years, and increasingly people of all political persuasions have reached the same conclusion," she told the packed house at the 1,040-seat Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall. Another 50 contributors were seated on stage under a giant screen that bore the words "Ready to Lead" and below that, "HILLARYCLINTON.COM."

"I don't want to be part of the first generation of Americans to leave our country worse off," Clinton said during a conversation with author John Grisham, who hosted the fundraiser.

Grisham said in an interview after the event that it raised $200,000 for Clinton's presidential campaign and that his role as host was "beyond an endorsement."

Clinton told the audience in a 45-minute dialogue with Grisham that the next president must know what the nation needs to do to "restore our position around the world, but also begin to address the challenges of health care, the economy, education." She fielded questions from the audience for another half-hour.

"The president seems determined to stay on his course in Iraq until the last day he's in office," Clinton told the crowd, which Grisham later said included about 50 people paying the top-dollar $2,300 ticket, another 50 who contributed $1,000 each to attend,

others who paid $50 and students who got in for $25.

"We don't know what we will inherit at the end of the next 15 months, but I have said that if the president does not extricate us from Iraq before he leaves office, when I am president I will, starting on the very first day," she said to loud applause.

Grisham said that by raising $200,000 for Clinton's campaign, the event matched a fundraiser that he, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Stephen King put on at the same theater last Sept. 24 for Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Webb, who last Nov. 7 defeated incumbent Sen. George Allen by about 10,000 votes.

Grisham's conversation with Clinton on the stage at the Paramount ranged from questions about the environment to the reasons she has long rooted for both the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees, which she said "really gave me a psychic balance" as the Cubs were perennial losers and the Yankees usually won.

Clinton joked with Grisham often during the hour-long event, sparring over baseball team loyalties they do not share - as he is a St. Louis Cardinals fan who delights in the annual demise of the Cubs - and joshing about potential appointments at the ambassadorial level.

After he asked about appointments, she said she might put him on a list of potential ambassadors to Paris or Rome, but implied strongly that his inability to speak French might keep him from the top of the list of candidates for ambassador to France. Grisham said that was "a very polite 'No,' and that's OK, because I really don't want to leave Charlottesville."

Responding to questions from the audience, Clinton said she would make Latin America a centerpiece of her administration's foreign policy and continue to push with fellow Democrats to cut the cost of college loans and increase funding for Pell grants to students.

A Charlottesville woman asked if Clinton thinks presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has enough experience to be vice president. "I have the highest regard for all of my opponents, and I can't think about anything like that because that's a jinx," she said, comparing it to talking about a no-hit game in progress in baseball.

"Assuming I can win the nomination, I will give serious thought to him and to others who I think will give a great deal of knowledge to the ticket and the political side of the equation, but much more importantly, I think, governing our country and to once again lifting us up and setting some goals and bringing people together," Clinton said. "If I get there next spring, that's what I am going to be focused on."

Grisham, an Albemarle County author and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990, told the crowd that Charlottesville must be important because Obama is coming for a fundraiser in just more than a month. Plans for an Oct. 29 fundraiser have not been formally announced by Obama's campaign but were leaked in an e-mail by the campaign's finance committee.

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said he hasn't endorsed a candidate yet but said Clinton gave "a wonderful performance."

His 9-year-old son, Matthew, asked Clinton what her husband would be called - "the first gentleman-"

"Well, that's a good idea," she replied. "As you might guess, we've gotten lots of suggestions," she added, prompting laughter throughout the crowd.

"First mate," Clinton said to more laughter. "I think, though, probably he'll still be called Mr. President because he was our president for eight years. It is an interesting question because it has never happened before." She said he would be "incredibly helpful" to her as president and could serve as a roving ambassador around the world.