Clinton Continues Railing on Obama's Health Care Plan
HANGING ROCK, OHIO -- During a campaign stop in southeastern Ohio, Hillary Clinton said her opponent Barack Obama "only wants your children to have health insurance," and pointed out that his plan has a mandate for parents to purchase health care for their children but not require "the breadwinner" to have health insurance.
Clinton said "I don't think that's smart, I think we have to figure out how we're going to provide affordable health insurance for everyone. No one will be asked to pay what they can't pay."
Clinton's jab at Obama's health care plan came during a campaign rally at Ohio University Southern Campus where a small crowd of about 150 people attended. Follwing her remarks, Clinton held a press conference where she was asked about her comments on Obama's health care plan.
"Look at his plan, he has a mandate to cover children," Clinton explained, "He does not have any requirements for adults and he has said repeatedly that he is concerned about children. Well I cover both children and adults."
The former First Lady accused Obama of having a double standard when it comes to mandating coverage for children but not for adults. "It is also a bit of a red herring on his part because he does mandate parents to have health care for their children and then criticizes me for requiring everyone to have health insurance so it's like being a little bit pregnant it doesn't make sense."
Clinton was also asked about her fund-raising figures for the month of February, since her campaign announced today that they have raised upwards of $35 million for the month and boasted the support from 200,000 new donors. Clinton said she was "excited by the generosity of thousands of new donors." Clinton called the large support a "vote of confidence" from voters in her campaign.
Clinton's comments come just one month after she loaned her campaign $5 million dollars and raised a measly $13.5 million in comparison to Obama's $36 million for the same period.
But today's figures gave Clinton a boost of confidence. "I think it says a lot," Clinton told the press, "People demonstrate their support for the candidate in a number of ways. Obviously, they come out to events they make phone calls they hold signs, they are actively involved in supporting us. But contributions are another way of judging."
The problem with that last part is that if contributions are another way of judging a campaign, Clinton has an uphill battle ahead. Obama's campaign is downplaying Clinton's figures saying they will surpass her $35 million when they're done counting for the month.