TAMPA - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton turned her celebrity power to raising money for Florida Democrats Saturday, offering a blistering assessment of Republican leadership in Washington.
"I know you can get discouraged sometimes when you see what's happening in Washington. I also yell at the television set. Now that Bill and I have Tivo, Bill and I rewind it and yell again," the former first lady quipped to a crowded hotel ballroom. "But it's time to turn that frustration into action. We have to direct that action toward taking our country back and changing America. ... And we can target our passion. Lucky for us, we have better aim than some in Washington."
Wrapping up a three-day swing through Florida where she raised money for her own re-election campaign and for Florida Sen. Bill Nelson's re-election campaign, Clinton in Tampa raised at least $150,000 for the Florida Democratic Party. She spoke to several hundred Democrats paying $100 each to see her at the Wyndham Westshore hotel and then attended $1,000-per person and $10,000-per-person receptions at the home of Janet Cruz Rifkin.
In her speech at the hotel, Clinton criticized the White House for its handling of hurricane Katrina, for driving up deficits while refusing to budge from tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. She said that Republican leaders are failing to adequately fund Everglades restoration, to invest in making ports less vulnerable to terrorists, are looking at drilling off the Florida coast, and produced a "badly flawed, drug-industry-written" prescription drug plan.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/25/State/Sen_Clinton_puts_cele.shtml