By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had tough words Monday afternoon in Salisbury for big oil, China, the wealthy, insurance companies and the federally mandated No Child Left Behind program.
Clinton, speaking for a half-hour at Salisbury Station, also sounded a hopeful note for the country, if she becomes president.
Clinton told Salisburians itís ěour timeî provided that the country changes course, repairs the damage of the Bush administration and finds a way to pull people together.
ěIím betting that we will,î she said.
Locked in a tight, often contentious battle with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Clinton campaigned all day in North Carolina Monday just eight days before the stateís presidential primary.
The Salisbury crowd applauded often after points and promises Clinton made, with the loudest, most sustained ovations coming after she said she would put an end to the No Child Left Behind program in schools and set out a plan to bring troops home and end the United Statesí military involvement in Iraq.
Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, asked voters in the audience to make choosing a president a hiring decision.
Yes, sheís been described as tough, Clinton said, but Americans are hiring someone for the toughest job in the world.
They have a choice of electing someoneís whoís nice, someone who will stick to the failed Bush policies or someoneís whoís going to be tough and fight for them, Clinton said. Americans need a champion in the White House again, she added.
Some people look at all of the countryís problems as an overwhelming burden, Clinton said, but she expressed confidence that the countryís best days are ahead through innovation and a resolve to restore leadership and Americaís moral authority around the world.
ěAll we have to do is start acting as Americans again,î Clinton said.
Clinton appeared in Salisbury exactly a month after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, spoke on her behalf at the same historic depot.
Hillary Clinton pronounced ěSalisburyî as locals do until the end of her talk when she allowed a more Northern ěSows-berryî to slip in. She went on to stops in Concord and Charlotte after her Monday afternoon stop in Salisbury.
Read more about Clintonís visit in Tuesdayís edition of the Salisbury Post.