4 years ago
By Rich Kellman Senior Correspondent
Former President Bill Clinton returned to Buffalo Wednesday with a message to Democrats: Grab onto the many opportunities Republicans are handing you, and focus your message. "President Nixon looks like a Communist compared to these guys," he said, referring to Republicans in Washington.
Clinton told some 300 local Democrats that Americans are rejecting public policy based on ideology, whether conservative or liberal, and instead want to return to results-based politics. "America is yearning for a sense of purpose and unity," he said at the Buffalo Convention Center.
Among his other points:
Afghanistan, not Iraq, is the most important military front in the War on Terror.
Republicans doctored a recent EPA study on air pollution to make remediation appear more expensive than it really was.
Republicans led the country down the "primrose path" on the cost of the Medicare Prescription Drug progam to benefit drug companies.
Republicans are trying to cut the Federal deficit by taking benefits from the poor and giving the rich tax cuts at a time of war. "Americans know this is fundamentally unfair," he said.
Clinton also said the reason he loves Buffalo is that it epitomizes fundamental American values. "I think there are a lot of old-fashioned people, and no matter how much trouble the community gets in, people are fanatically loyal to it." Clinton added, "It may be indelicate to say, but you can't live and stay here if you're a wuss," which brought a roar and a round of applause.
Clinton went to the HSBC Arena Wednesday night to join Sabres owner Tom Golisano for the Sabres-Dallas Stars game. Golisano has bankrolled Clinton humanitarian and international relief programs, but is a newly-minted Republican who is often mentioned as a possible candidate for Governor next year.
