So glad to see she's back to wearing the Pepto Pink blouse with Ol' Crusty. It's just so unsettling when she tries other colors, you know.
Posted on 03/26/2002 6:49:31 AM PST by Lance Romance
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton began a two-day visit to Ireland Tuesday that was designed to build business ties between Ireland and New York, and shore up support among Irish Catholic voters back home.
The Dublin Chamber of Commerce invited the New York Democrat and was paying for her trip, which was postponed from November because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
On Tuesday, in a sign of the high status the Clinton name retains in Ireland, she was meeting separately with Irish President Mary McAleese, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Foreign Minister Brian Cowen - an itinerary normally reserved for visiting premiers and presidents.
"The ties between us are only getting stronger," Clinton said beside the prime minister, whom she thanked "for the extraordinary support that Ireland gave to New York and America following Sept. 11."
She noted Ireland ordered government offices and businesses to close on Sept. 14 as a national day of mourning. This act, she said, "demonstrated to all of us the deep ties between our countries and particularly between New York and Ireland."
Included in the Clinton entourage were about 30 New York business and university leaders. Among them were representatives from defense giant Lockheed Martin, telephone company Verizon Communications, Columbia University, Syracuse University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Officials at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce said they expected the senator's visit to coincide with announcements of new jobs and corporate investments between Ireland and New York. On Wednesday, during a scheduled visit to Dublin City University, Clinton was expected to unveil a new biopharmaceutical research center with links to New York universities.
The Irish government said Clinton also would receive informal briefings on the latest efforts to sustain the 1998 peace accord in Northern Ireland, an accomplishment achieved in part by the involvement of her husband, former President Clinton. As first lady she made five visits to Northern Ireland, two more than her husband.
The Clintons' Irish interests didn't produce overwhelming Catholic support, however, in her successful 2000 campaign to become a senator for New York, where about 2.5 million residents identify themselves as Irish. She received just 46 percent of the white Catholic vote, a weak spot in her base.
Last month Clinton visited Israel and strongly criticized Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a move to underpin her substantial support among New York Jews.
A few years earlier she called for a Palestinian state and sat quietly as Arafat's wife accused the Israeli's of poisoning babies.
... who promptly followed it up with a joke about what drunks the Irish are.
So glad to see she's back to wearing the Pepto Pink blouse with Ol' Crusty. It's just so unsettling when she tries other colors, you know.
"Twenty years ago, Ireland had a weak economy that was considered hopeless. Since then, they have lowered their tax rates, and the result has been that average Irish income is now the equivalent of average English income and will probably surpass it in a few years. The strong Irish economy is the reason that all these companies with me are interested in investing.
"The policies that made Ireland successful are the very policies I've spent my political career opposing. Boy, what an idiot I've been. Starting now, I will work for lower tax rates in America so that we will also have the growth rates that Ireland enjoys. Ireland, you've taught me the error of my ways."
(Okay, I can dream.)
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