Former Governor Tom Vilsack’s home on Main Street in Mount Pleasant was crowded this morning as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton met with local residents. Folks asked her questions about foreign policy and health care, and a few asked for an autograph or a picture with the candidate. Clinton’s next stop was in nearby Crawfordsville at the Riksch BioFuels plant.
"I believe that the bioeconomy is critical for rural America," Clinton told KILJ Radio during an interview in Vilsack’s Mount Pleasant home. "Iowa’s really leading the way." The biofuels plant Clinton visited makes soybean-based biodiesel. "Obviously this has the potential to really make a big difference in revitalizing the rural economy," Clinton says. "I worked a lot on rural economic issues in upstate New York."
Clinton is a U.S. Senator representing the state of New York. She touted her proposal to give small businesses in rural areas a tax credit for each of the people they employ. Clinton arrived in southeast Iowa last night. She ends her latest Iowa campaign swing with a town hall meeting tonight in Waterloo. During a question-and-answer session with reporters this morning, Clinton said Democrats should not immediately concede that President Bush will veto an Iraq funding bill that establishes a withdrawal date for U.S. troops.
This past weekend, Illinois Senator Barack Obama said once Bush follows through on his veto threat, Democrats who control Congress won’t want to "play chicken with the troops" and will draft another spending bill that does not include a withdrawal date.