Hillary Clinton urges Democrats to take back White House
MIAMI - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused the Bush administration Tuesday of nullifying the success of her husband's administration and urged party activists to retake the White House next year.
"I cannot even imagine four years of a second term of this administration, with no accountability and no election at the end," Clinton, D-N.Y., said.
Clinton, whom many Democrats consider a likely presidential candidate in 2008, headlined a Democratic National Committee dinner that raised $1 million for the party's campaign next year.
The former first lady said the Bush administration has overturned former President Clinton's work on protecting the environment, paying down the federal deficit and creating new jobs.
"I shouldn't take it personally. Because what (the Bush) administration was attempting to do was turn back the progress of the entire 20th century. They were not just after Bill Clinton - they wanted to undo Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt," Clinton said.
"They were on their way to Teddy Roosevelt. It was a bipartisan right-wing extreme agenda," she said.
Florida Sen. Bob Graham urged the party to unite behind a nominee once a candidate emerges from the early primaries. Graham abandoned his own presidential campaign and chose not to seek re-election this fall.
"It will substantially weaken our chances of election next November if this primary process denigrates into a squabble among Democrats," Graham said. "None of the Democrats are our enemy."
Graham's comments appeared pointed at some of the harsh language used this week in the Democratic field of presidential candidates to describe former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has emerged as the front-runner.
Indeed, DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe made a request to the field of candidates, asking the party to fall in line behind a nominee once the primary voters choose a winner.
"Let's keep our eye on the prize. This is about beating George Bush," McAuliffe said.
Clinton's speech wrapped up an active day in South Florida. During a stop at a Coral Gables book store, hundreds of fans lined up for an autographed copy of her book, "Living History."
Clinton told reporters the capture of Saddam Hussein was "an accomplishment for our military forces and a real opportunity for the Iraqi people to get beyond the terror of his dictatorship."
"I'm just happy that he has been apprehended and will be put on trial for the crimes he committed," Clinton said before a long procession of well-wishers picked up copies of her book, first released in June.
Supporters began arriving nearly two hours before Clinton's appearance - many wore buttons that read "Hillarynow.com", a web site started by Miami Beach activist Bob Kunst urging the former first lady to run for president next year.
Clinton has said she plans to serve out her full six-year term in the U.S. Senate, but fans like Robyn Tauber of Aventura still want to see her in the White House. Tauber told Clinton: "Whenever you run, we'll all vote for you."
"I don't think I'm going to vote in the election if she doesn't run," Tauber said later. "I don't like any of the men" in the Democratic field.
Clinton made appearances earlier in the day at a book signing event in Wellington and a fund-raiser in West Palm Beach.