Clinton Tells Hoosiers She'll Restore Manufacturing Jobs

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Speaking to thousands in a city hit hard by job losses, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday she'd restore manufacturing opportunities to communities like Anderson and eliminate incentives for businesses to leave the U.S.

"We are going to go through the tax code of the United States and we're going to remove every single advantage that goes to any business that exports a job out of Indiana to a foreign country," the Democrat said at Anderson High School's gym Thursday afternoon.

The Anderson stop was one of three in Indiana for Clinton Thursday. She went to each with U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, starting in the morning at a restaurant in Terre Haute. She planned to speak at an Evansville high school at about 8 p.m. EDT.

In Anderson, Clinton told a crowd of about 6,000 that she would restore fiscal responsibility to Washington and start bringing home troops from Iraq. But she drew the biggest cheers when she talked about jobs and trade agreements.

"We're going to take all the trade agreements and we're going to call a timeout," the U.S. senator from New York said. "We're going to examine every single one of them, and we're going to change them so they're pro-American.

"We are not going to be involved in trade agreements that put our workers and our businesses and our country at a disadvantage any longer."

Anderson has lost many auto manufacturing jobs. During a question-and-answer period, someone from the crowd reminded Clinton that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, pushed for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which some blame for the jobs exodus.

The candidate said she'd reconsider trade deals like NAFTA.

"I intend to renegotiate NAFTA," she said. "We're going to put core labor and environmental standards in. We're going to have enforcement mechanisms."

Clinton's trip follows a town hall meeting in Plainfield Saturday by her rival for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Both candidates are expected to be in Indiana several more times leading up to the May 6 primary.

Former President Bill Clinton, spoke at a rally on his wife's behalf in Richmond on Tuesday.

In Anderson on Thursday, the line of people entering the gym was at least two or three blocks long before the speech. Many wore Clinton shirts and buttons or carried posters supporting the candidate.

Jim Janes, who works for the Madison County Highway Department, was in the same gym to hear Robert Kennedy speak during his presidential campaign in 1968.

Janes is undecided between Clinton and Obama, as to who should be the Democratic nominee.

"The No. 1 issue here is jobs," he said. "Because we've lost so many industries over the years. We need to stop the jobs from going overseas."

His comments came on a day when Indiana was listed among the states that had the most newly laid-off workers apply for unemployment benefits last week with 2,158. The number of applicants across the country rose to the highest level in nearly two months, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

Clinton arrived in Terre Haute Thursday morning to cheers from dozens of supporters who packed the Saratoga Diner.

She and Bayh, D-Ind., sat at a table with several residents, talking with them about their concerns. Bayh, who comes from a small town near Terre Haute, has been mentioned prominently as a possible running mate should Clinton win the nomination.

Clinton said the country's middle class had suffered under President George W. Bush, with the average Indiana family's income declining more than $2,000 since he took office.

"We're not standing up for people who work hard every single day, whether they're making cars or making pharmaceuticals or they're making some other product here," Clinton said. "It's not the same world where we can just work harder and harder and harder and get ahead. We have to be smarter and our government has to be a partner with our companies and our workers."

Clinton also touched on another mantra of her campaign -- affordable health care.

"I think we should limit the amount of money anybody has to pay for their health insurance premiums to a small percentage of their income," Clinton said. "I think we could do it if it were 6 to 7 percent -- no more. You would be guaranteed you would have health insurance."

Indiana probably will see plenty of Clinton and Obama during the seven weeks leading to the May 6 primary, which will determine the candidates' share of the state's 72 delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Because many states hold primaries before May, presidential nominations often are wrapped up before Hoosiers get to vote. But because of this year's tight race, this is the first time in 40 years that Indiana's Democratic presidential primary has had the opportunity to matter.

According to an Associated Press count, Obama has 1,598 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,487, according to the AP. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination for president.

Clinton is supported by much of the state's Democratic establishment, including Bayh and former Gov. Joe Kernan. Bayh and three other Indiana superdelegates have endorsed Clinton, while two have backed Obama. Indiana's five Democratic congressmen remain uncommitted.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain held a town hall meeting in Indianapolis last month.