Arizona Republic Account of Clinton Visit 10, 000 people!

Clinton woos Valley voters
State's Democratic front-runner makes first campaign stop here
Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 23, 2008 12:00 AM

In her first visit to Arizona as a presidential candidate on Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton focused on renewable energy and health care, barely touching on the mortgage crisis and immigration.

The New York senator drew more than 10,000 people to the school but said nothing about those two issues. A record 10,000 metro-Phoenix houses were foreclosed on in 2007.

"I was surprised," Angie Keezer, 32, of Laveen, said. advertisement




Keezer wanted to hear about how the federal government would help solve the immigration issue, "especially with the new (employer-sanctions) law that took effect."

Tuesday's town-hall meeting at Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen was supposed to be a showcase for Clinton's economic-stimulus plan, which in recent speeches has focused on housing. Instead, she talked about putting money into renewable energy and reducing dependence on foreign oil.

"I think it's important for our nation to start setting goals again," Clinton said.

Clinton comes to this fast-growing border state of 6 million that has been rocked by falling home prices, has a burgeoning Latino population and is grappling with illegal immigration.

It also has a huge chunk of undecided voters: About 20 percent of Democrats and 20 percent of Republicans are undecided, a recent poll suggests.

One undecided voter at the meeting was Shannon Johnson, 42, a microbiologist from Phoenix. Johnson said she was leaning towards Sen. Barack Obama but likes Clinton's health-care plans.

"What I want to hear are her ideas on Iraq," Johnson said.

One Latino voter at the town hall said Clinton's health-care plan made up his mind.

"I've worked in industries where you had to work two to three months for health insurance to kick in," said Carlos Jurado Jr., 36.

Jurado is a recently diagnosed diabetic and left his job as a chef in October to qualify for state health insurance.

He works for Maricopa Integrated Health System.

Clinton is openly courting the Latino vote.

Nearly 30 percent of Arizona's population is of Hispanic descent.

On Tuesday, the United Farm Workers Union endorsed Clinton, and Clinton's town-hall meeting was held at the high school named for the union's late co-founder.

The senator from New York hopes to solidify her lead in Arizona.

A Cronkite/Eight Poll released Tuesday indicates that the former first lady leads the Democratic pack. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain is far ahead of his GOP rivals in his home state.

The poll looked at how potential voters either supported or were "leaning toward" a particular candidate.

Among Democrats,Clinton had 45 percent; Sen. Barack Obama got 24 percent; former Sen. John Edwards drew 9 percent and Congressman Dennis Kucinich 1 percent.

As for the GOP contenders, 41 percent are leaning toward or support McCain. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, McCain's closest competitor in the poll, had 18 percent.

The poll included 375 Republicans and 366 Democrats and had a margin of error of 5 percentage points for the Republicans and 5.1 percentage points for Democrats.

The Arizona poll also had a sobering footnote: Roughly 20 percent of voters in either party are undecided. That's enough to erode Clinton's lead here and could give a boost to

is voting for her and lives in Arizona.

is that on Super Tuesday?

The Arizona poll also had a sobering footnote: Roughly 20 percent of voters in either party are undecided. That's enough to erode Clinton's lead here and could give a boost to McCain's competitors.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0123clinton0123.html

Nice lead she has among Dems in the poll, too. Thanks for posting this.