The Monitor has not yet endorsed in either party's primary Clinton: Agenda will be clear from day one Planning for victory not 'presumptuous'
Concord Monitor
By SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Monitor staff
December 24. 2007 12:35AM
For Hillary Clinton, it's none too soon to begin contemplating her potential first days in the Oval Office. "I don't think it's presumptuous; I think that it is sensible to say I intend to be elected president, I'm going to run a winning campaign against the Republicans, and here are some of the things I'm going to do on day one, day two, day three," Clinton said in an interview with Monitor editors and reporters Friday. "I don't think there's enough time between the election and the inauguration to understand what the Bush administration has done to our government. We have to start now." On her list: Out with the "gag rule," which bars the federal government from giving money to international family-planning groups that provide abortion counseling or help women receive abortions. And out with what Clinton described as President Bush-era damage to environmental regulations.
On the legislative front, Clinton would immediately ask Congress to send two Bush-vetoed bills to her desk for her signature: one to increase funding for embryonic stem-cell research, the other to expand a children's health insurance program.
"I think a lot of presidencies get off to a slow start because you win, you've invested everything in the election, and then you lift your head up and you look around, and there will be a lot of surprises with an administration of the opposite party," said Clinton, a Democrat. Many of Clinton's planned early-day changes - such as reversing "a lot of the war on science that the Bush administration has conducted" - can occur through executive orders, she added.
If Clinton wins her party's nomination, expect to hear far more about her governing priorities, especially those she believes can be swiftly enacted: "I think making that a theme of my general election campaign will really send the message that I am ready to govern, I am ready to lead on day one," she said. Much more.....
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