Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Campaign
In December 2007, Clinton began campaigning in Iowa in support of her mother's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. She appeared across the country, largely on college campuses. By early April 2008, she had spoken at 100 colleges on behalf of her mother's candidacy.
On the campaign trail, Chelsea answered audience questions but did not give interviews or respond to press questions, including one from a nine year old Scholastic News reporter asking whether her father would be a good "first man." She replied, ""I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you're cute." Philippe Reines, her mother's press secretary, intervened when the press attempted to approach Chelsea directly.
When MSNBC reporter David Shuster characterized Chelsea's participation in her mother's campaign as "sort of being pimped out," the Clinton campaign objected. Shuster subsequently apologized on-air and was suspended for two weeks.
The first time a college student asked about her mother's handling of the Lewinsky scandal at a campaign stop she responded, "I do not think that is any of your business." But as she became a more experienced campaigner she refined her response and deflected questions on the issue with comments like "If that's what you want to vote on, that's what you should vote on. But I think there are other people going to vote on things like healthcare and economics."
On August 26 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Chelsea called Hillary "my hero and my mother" and introduced her with a long video tribute. After this appearance she returned to New York City and her private life.
Read more about this topic: Chelsea Clinton
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“For all the injustices in our past and our present, we have to believe that in the free exchange of ideas, justice will prevail over injustice, tolerance over intolerance and progress over reaction.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“Because of these convictions, I made a personal decision in the 1964 Presidential campaign to make education a fundamental issue and to put it high on the nation’s agenda. I proposed to act on my belief that regardless of a family’s financial condition, education should be available to every child in the United States—as much education as he could absorb.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“I am surprised at the way people seem to perceive me, and sometimes I read stories and hear things about me and I go “ugh.” I wouldn’t like her either. It’s so unlike what I think I am or what my friends think I am.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“What you don’t understand about this town is that they can fight about issues all they want, but they don’t really care about them. What they really care about is who they sit next to at dinner.”
—Anonymous “Prominent Woman,” Washington, DC, socialite. As quoted in The Agenda, ch. 20, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, to Bob Woodward (1994)
“What we have to do ... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947)
“Children’s lives are not shaped solely by their families or immediate surroundings at large. That is why we must avoid the false dichotomy that says only government or only family is responsible. . . . Personal values and national policies must both play a role.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton (20th century)
“The Republican Vice Presidential Candidate ... asks you to place him a heartbeat from the Presidency.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“The fact that a man is to vote forces him to think. You may preach to a congregation by the year and not affect its thought because it is not called upon for definite action. But throw your subject into a campaign and it becomes a challenge.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)