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Hillary Bangs the Innovation Drum, Quotes Colbert
By Sarah Lai Stirland October 10, 2007 | 2:03:26 PMCategories: Election '08
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday outlined a national broadband policy and called for a permanent implementation of the research and development credit.
The New York senator and Democratic presidential front-runner made her remarks in Merrimack, New Hampshire, where she is campaigning. Her so-called "Innovation Agenda," is part of her economic policy platform that she's publicizing on her "Middle Class Express" tour.
The Associated Press quoted Clinton today noting that: "The nation that invented the Internet is now ranked about 25th in access to it."
Though short on details, Clinton's broadband policy as announced in a statement would create tax incentives to encourage build-out to "underserved areas." She also said that she would "support" state and local broadband initiatives
Clinton pointed to an initiative called ConnectKentucky as an example of a successful public private partnership. She said that the partnership had stimulated significant investment and had expanded the coverage rate to more than 90%. [It didn't cover Columbus, Kentucky, though.]
Intriguingly, the Wednesday announcement did include this one crucial, yet inside-baseball kind of detail:
"And she will change the FCC rules so that we finally have an accurate, detailed picture of broadband deployment and penetration rates."
The Bush Administration was sued earlier this year by the investigative journalism outfit the Center for Public Integrity for withholding the information from the public. A federal district court judge in DC in late August ruled in favor of the Administration.
Clinton last week unveiled her science policy, which was well-received in the scientific community. She used the occasion to continue her criticisms of the deeply unpopular Bush Administration, saying that she would end the "war on science." The term is an allusion the title of the New York Times bestseller by Chris Mooney.
She used the same approach on Wednesday, saying that "Americans are concerned about the global economy -- and the policies of this administration have only made matters worse."
While many pundits have bemoaned the United States' deregulatory broadband policies over the past eight years and its lagging connectivity in world rankings, President Bush has in previous State of the Union speeches called for making the R&D tax credit permanent.
The R&D tax credit issue is a particularly timely one because it's scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
It's an issue on the radar of the politically powerful trade group the National Association of Manufacturers, as well as other coalitions and technology industry trade groups such as the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents companies like AMD, Apple, Cisco, Dell, eBay, Intel and Microsoft on Capitol Hill. Both groups say that the tax credit helps to make the US competitive, and have pushed to make the credit permanent. The idea was first enacted in 1981and is an annual issue up for debate in Congress. Other countries also offer similar policies to lure investment.
Clinton's overall innovation agenda closely tracks ITIC's 2007 "High Tech Priorities" lobbying agenda, although her Wednesday statement stayed silent on the issue of immigration.
Member companies of the lobbying association want Congress to expand the number of H-1B visas to allow more foreign engineers to come and work for them in the United States. (Microsoft Founder Bill Gates has historically been a particularly vocal critic of US caps on the number of H-1B visas it issues, characterizing the policy as one of: "We don't want smart people -- keep them out."
For her part, Clinton on Wednesday pushed the idea of closing the skills gap by making college more affordable, and by introducing incentives to bring more women and minorities into the fields of math, science and engineering.
The AP also reported this Clinton wise-crack, attributed to Stephen Colbert, the famed fake news anchor on Comedy Central.
"To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, that great philosopher, this administration doesn't make decisions based on facts, it makes facts based on decisions," Clinton said to laughter. "By ignoring or manipulating science the Bush administration is letting our economic competitors get an edge in the global economy."
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.—Steve Valdez, a retired high school history teacher, is keeping an eye on the presidential campaign and wondering about Sen. Hillary Clinton's chances.
"Is history ready?" asks Valdez, an independent voter, unsure whether voters will embrace the controversial former first lady for president.
With Clinton consolidating her lead over Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, her Democratic rivals are increasingly questioning her ability to win the White House in a general election. They say her polarizing persona will keep her from defeating a Republican, hoping the seeds of doubt they plant now will cause voters to look their way come primary or caucus day.
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Ever since Clinton stepped onto the presidential stage with her husband, she has been a lightning rod on the right and sometimes the left. She offended some women when she defended her decision to work, saying, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas." She raised eyebrows when the public learned she had turned $1,000 into $100,000 from cattle futures trading. And she became a political target when she tried to overhaul the health-care system with closed-door meetings.
Her opponents argue that Clinton engenders such hostile feelings that she will energize Republicans against her and other Democratic candidates, particularly in swing states like Colorado. Already, the Republican National Committee is taking aim at Clinton multiple times a day while virtually ignoring her rivals.
The question of electability is often tied up in a candidate's likability, and in Clinton's case, it could also be an alternative way of asking whether a woman can be elected president. It is a loosely defined but fundamentally important part of the formula for a winning candidate.
"I think there's no doubt that she carries some significant baggage," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, adding that her high negative ratings would only get worse in a general election. "I guess water sometimes runs upstream, but the history of presidential politics is not that people go in and reduce their unfavorables. That's not the way it works."
Dredging up 'personal stuff'
David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager, said Republicans will "unload on her" in a general election, dredging up "the personal stuff."
"There are just a lot of local state officials and activists who are very nervous about having her at the head of the ticket," Bonior said. "They think she will be the catalyst to unite the Republican Party with great fervor, they believe she will be a tremendous drag on the ticket and that we will forfeit the opportunity to make gains in the Congress, state legislatures and gubernatorial seats."
However, Clinton campaign officials say Obama and Edwards are losing the so-called electability argument, as poll after poll shows the New York senator beating not just them, but each of the Republican candidates.
A new Gallup poll shows 50 percent of Democrats support Clinton, compared to just 21 percent for Obama and 13 percent for Edwards. A CNN poll finds 45 percent of voters believe she is most likely to win the general election—far more than any other candidate. And the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows Clinton beating each of the Republican candidates in the key battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
"I think you're seeing a higher level of frustration and desperation," said Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, of Obama and Edwards.
What about Colorado?
How Clinton would fare next November is an open question here in Colorado, a state that denied John Kerry a win in 2004 while handing Democrats victories in a string of recent congressional, legislative and gubernatorial races.
Pat Waak, the Colorado Democratic chairwoman, is optimistic that any of the Democratic candidates can carry the state, noting that Republicans' numerical advantage over Democrats has dropped 25 percent over the last three years and unaffiliated voters seem frustrated with the status quo.
"What I hear from [Republicans] is their disenchantment with the war in Iraq, the budget deficit and the feeling that their party has been taken away from them by extremists," she said.
Dick Wadhams, on the other hand, said he can hardly wait for Clinton to win the nomination. The state Republican chairman believes Clinton will harm the chances of Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who is running for Senate.
"I think she's going to be an albatross to any Democratic candidate in Colorado in a competitive seat," Wadhams said. "I'm looking forward to Hillary Clinton being nominated president of the United States in downtown Denver in August 2008 with Mark Udall standing by her side and every [Democratic] candidate for the legislature saying, 'Why on Earth did we bring this convention to Colorado?' "
On both sides of the fence
In this Denver suburb flanking the Rocky Mountains' Front Range, Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters are evenly distributed. And across the political spectrum, people expressed uncertainty about Clinton's chances.
"I love Hillary!" said Mary Madrid, an unaffiliated voter who works as a supervisor at a senior center, adding that she was doubtful about whether Clinton could overcome the state's conservative nature. "I think the country is ready for a woman president," she said, "but Colorado is not."
Two friends sitting outside in the sunshine drinking coffee questioned the wisdom and the likelihood of another Clinton presidency.
