Clinton in Iowa: "About time" for woman president

Clinton in Iowa: "About time" for woman president

Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:21pm ET

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton drew big crowds and loud cheers on Saturday during her first visit to Iowa as a presidential contender, defending her votes on Iraq and saying it was "about time" for a woman president.

In the state that holds the first contest in the 2008 presidential nomination battle, the former first lady said she thought Americans were ready for a woman in the Oval Office.

"It's about time, if not past time, we had a woman president," she told an enthusiastic and overflow crowd of 1,500 Iowa Democrats jammed into a high school gymnasium in Des Moines.



While some might wonder whether U.S. voters will elect a woman, she said, "I don't think we'll know until we try, and I'm going to try."

Earlier, at a meeting with state Democratic Party officials, she was asked about her 2002 vote to authorize the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The New York senator, now a war critic, has been criticized for being slow to turn against the conflict and for her hesitance to renounce her vote.

"I've taken responsibility for my vote, but there are no do-overs in life. I wish there were. I acted on the best judgment I had at the time," she said. "The president took my vote and others' votes and basically misused the authority we gave him."

The trip was Clinton's first to Iowa since November 2003, when she hosted the state Democratic Party's annual fund-raising dinner featuring the candidates battling for the 2004 presidential nomination. Continued...


http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2007-01-27T231619Z_01_N27413805_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-POLITICS-CLINTON.xml