MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., told a 1,000-person audience that she wants to bring back the goal-setting mindset which landed the United States on the moon during a speech at Central High School on Friday.
"We had a sense that we could set goals and we could achieve them," she said. "There was nothing we couldn't do."
Applying this line of thinking to the energy crisis, Clinton said she plans to remove all oil company tax subsidies, using that money to fund energy research.
"We should put the people in our colleges and universities to work," she said. "And let's start doing it with a sense of urgency."
To address health care issues, Clinton wants to convert America to a system of electronic medical records which, she said, could save the U.S. $100 billion annually.
Health Affairs, a journal that explores current health policy issues, estimated a more conservative figure of $81 billion per year in its September/October 2005 issue.
Clinton said the health insurance debate frequently pins the welfare of children against insurance companies.
She spoke of one New York boy with a rare disease who was refused coverage until Clinton herself spoke with the insurance company.
"It should not take a United States senator to get you the health insurance that you thought you had already paid for," Clinton said.
An audience member later questioned how Clinton would avoid the problems of universal health care systems, such as the one in Canada.
"Most Americans want to be sure that we have a lot of choices," she said. "There has to be some element of checks and balances."
Clinton extends the necessity of competition to government contracts.
"There are too many no-bid contracts to Halliburton and others with very little oversight," she said. "We should have people compete for government funding and not just be well connected."
Regarding Iraq, Clinton said that Iraqis need to defend themselves and resolve their own problems.
"You cannot be in the middle of a sectarian civil war," Clinton said. "We have to do whatever it takes to end the war in Iraq and bring home our troops."
Clinton told the New York Times in March, however, that "vital national security interests in Iraq" require some U.S. military presence to keep Iraq from devolving into a failed state.
Questioned about Guantanamo Bay, Clinton said that she would detain those who pose a true threat to the U.S.
However, she said that it is very difficult to get accurate information out of the current administration.
"Until I'm president, I'm not really going to know what's going on," she said.
In the foreign policy realm, Clinton wants to stop alienating other countries.
"We need to send messages of how the United States cares about the futures of everybody," she said.
Perhaps in an effort to distance herself from the 'former first lady' label, Clinton emphasized her American roots.
"I grew up in a middle class family, in the middle of the country, in the middle of the past century," Clinton said.
To encourage the view of the campaign as a conversation with voters, Clinton's staff requires prospective hosts for public speaking events to set up the audience in the round, with chairs encircling a small stage in the center.
Using language such as "when I'm president," Clinton projected a confident image, to which the audience responded positively.
One middle-aged woman prefaced her question by saying, "Welcome to New Hampshire, Madame President."
