Senator and 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has taken her message to Fox News.
"Nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over," Senator Clinton tells Greta Van Susteren during a recent interview. Clinton says she will leave it to voters to ultimately decide who is the Democratic nominee.
On being asked why she is pursuing the presidency, Clinton responds: "Because I love my country.
"I mean, when it comes right down to it...not everybody's in a position like I've been...I've been so blessed, I've had so many opportunities, and I have this unique set of experiences on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue."
"I know that being President is the toughest job in the world," she continues. "And, yet, I believe with all my heart that we can reverse the damage that's been done during the Bush administration. We can get back to [building] a strong and prosperous middle class, and retain our leadership once again in the world.
And I know that on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue the Congress will respond. You know, it's not always easy, but you can put together the votes you need to make the kind of changes that America expects and deserves."
The video is from Fox News' On the Record, broadcast on March 26, 2008. Closed caption transcript also follows below.
Transcript via closed captions
greta: we spoke with democratic candidate for president senator hillary clinton right here in new york city. senator, nice to see you.
:: great to see you, greta. greta: thank you for doing this interview.
:: thank you. greta: this is what i think the voters are thinking about. one, is that we have a senator does not know the difference between the shiites' and al qaeda, a second one u.s. other problems, and a third that has been sitting in pews for 20 years and never heard anything. how do you reconcile that? i guess i should peel off senator mccain, since he is not in this horse race at this point.
:: i think the voters are intensely interested in this election. we have seen huge numbers come out of pennsylvania. i indeed voters know by now we are all in this race competing as hard as we can, and i am excited by that. i really feel this election has such high stakes for everybody that the participation is a reflection of how seriously people are taking the campaign. greta: but the issue of the bosnia problem that you have had over the last couple of days and the one with reverend wright and the hateful speech of his and senator obama, if you are trying to tell the voters why yours is less of a problem that his is less of a problem right now, what do you say?
:: well, speaking for myself obviously, i am a human being. if i made a mistake and of up to it, but that is not what people talk to me about. when i am out campaigning, like i have been doing in pennsylvania and indiana, and i am going to be in north carolina and kentucky, and i am excited about west -- and all of the places i would be in the next month or two, people are talking about the economy and health care, and it went to know what you' re going to do to get us back on the right track, and to help my family and me, and that is what i am engaged in, because when you have been in a campaign for 14 months, there are all sorts of kinds of distractions, but at the end of the day, this is like a hiring decision. who will people hired to get this country moving in the direction it should move? for me, i am making the case that i will be ready on day one to do what needs to be done. greta: i do not want to badger you on this, but when i look at the issues, i get a little confused. take iraq. there have been at 85 votes according to my colleague, which you and senator obama, having to do with iraq, and he said he was opposed to the war in the beginning, but when you look at the votes, you agree on 84 of them, so it seems that voters have to make a judgment. do you agree totally on iraq? where are you different, so that we get it?
:: greta, you have put your finger on a very significant issue in this campaign via as we know, senator obama said he was opposed the war and opposed it in 2002, 2003, 2004, and honored, but we have voted the same except for one vote, and that means to me that you want to go with someone who has said, look. i know we now have to get out of iraq. i know the positions we have to make. i have a comprehensive plan for doing just that, and senator obama has basically run his whole campaign on a speech he made in 2002, and i think the voters have to assess which do they believe is more relevant to the tough decisions that our next president is going to be facing. greta: said that is why i go back to badgering you a little bit on the issues. when you look at the past week, and november is a long way off, and even this summer, the convention, you' ll have got to be no senators with a public relations flack this week, and his is going back about eight days, but how should you tell the voters that yours is not a serious problem and his is a serious problem of what do you say? how do you distinguish them?
:: i say to look at my old record. i have been making positive changes for people for many years -- i think the best way you in life tell what somebody is going to do is to look and see what they have already done, and with me, you have got someone who has been around the world, been to more than 80 countries, has represented american and america' s values in many different settings, someone who did work to create the children' s health insurance program to bring health care to our national guard and reserves, who took on a lot of tough issues, as i have over all of these years, so it is the totality. i think people have to look at who we are, of course, and what we have done, and equally importantly, what we said we will do and who has the strength to deliver those results. greta: another issue i am confused about, and i follow the issue pretty closely, is health care. i know you have a program. senator obama has a program. i really do not know the difference. can you give me sort of the 32nd so i really get it? what is the difference between your programs?
:: i have a program to make health care more affordable, to get the costs down, and to cover everyone and equality of. senator obama plan does not cover everyone. he does not as aggressive measures to the costs down, and the real crux is that i would to make sure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. he would leave about 50 million people out. greta: where are the other differences? because there really is a lot in common. you are both democrats. for the voters to sort of get, what is the other bullet point differences? -- his would leave about 15 million people out.
:: health care and the economy, particularly on home foreclosures, which i think you have to address, otherwise, we are not going to get the housing market back and get this economic challenge that we face the mets. on a lot of the very specifics on, you know, what our experiences are, what we have already done, what we can put forward as, essentially, our resume, because this is a hiring decision. people say you can vote for somebody on the basis of whether you like their hair or not, and you can, but as moderate to look at it is that the american people have to hire a president, so but what i have done and what i will do and who can best deliver results, i think that there is a significant gap, and what i have seen in my last 14 months on the campaign trail is that every time people count me out, you know, the pundits say it is over, it should be over, the voters bring me back, because they believe, as i do, that this election is not about me. it is about everybody else. he is about whether you' re going to have a job, whether you' re going to be able to keep your home, whether you can get health care, whether you can afford college for your children, and that is what people keep coming back to my campaign, and because they believe i will get up every day and the white house and work hard for our people. greta: do not go away. senator hillary clinton as more to say about the reverend wright, and get all of this -- whether she talked to senator obama on the telephone today, and she talks about her exact strategy to nab the nomination, and later, as carl rothe think it is possible for hillary clinton to win? stay tuned. -- karl rove think it is possible? ,, .. ,, .. ,, .. greta welcome back to "on the record." here is senator clinton. in the last eight days, i have seen a number of emails. viewers are disturbed by the reverend wright, and that is a problem senator obama obviously has to address. had this happened earlier in the season, it might have had a different impacts. now, you know, it is close. what is your strategy? because time is running out. states are running at the and give me your plan or strategy on how you would become the nominee.
:: this is a really close election. despite what some might say, it is a very close election in the popular vote and in the delegates. we have 10 contests ahead of us. plus, do not forget, florida and michigan v i keep beating this drama. we cannot disenfranchise the two of the most important states for democrats, florida and michigan. i do not think we can win if we do not have michigan or florida. greta: you mean you do not think you can win?
:: i mean i do not think a democrat can win. say your votes do not camp, we are not a going to are revote, you are out of luck. i think we will be in trouble if we do not figure at how to count these votes, so we have these 10 contests, from pennsylvania to puerto rico. we have florida and michigan, so there is a lot to be done via millions of people are going to be voting in the next three months, and i hope that will include florida and michigan. greta: you said you hope, but i do not see any movement that that is happening.
:: look at what happened. the democratic national committee and i and my campaign said to them that we are willing to have a revote. i have no prediction. we wanted to go ahead and let the people actually go ahead and exercise their franchise, one of the most precious rights we have in this country and senator obama said no. he turned its back. he runs a campaign about in power and all of that. well, hello. what about giving the people in michigan a chance to have their voices and votes reproved no one knows how to vote would turn out. he has got a lot of resources. he could have a very vigorous campaign, but he does not want to give the people of michigan that chance. similarly, we have been tried to support the people in florida, because the people there on their voices and votes to be heard, and, again, senator obama does not support that. michigan is the clearest example of getting right up to the brink of doing the right thing and having senator obama say, no, i will not do it. greta: and if he says no, i will not do it, does it leave you and florida and michigan opera
:: no. greta: how?
:: you can always go to the convention. let' s have the democratic party go on record against seeking the michigan and florida delegation to three months before the general election? i do not think that will happen. i think that is where we are headed if we do not get this worked out. greta: what about the pledge to delegates? moving in one direction or another?
:: delegates are free to exercise their judgment, all delegates, whether you are from our caucus -- from a caucus. this is a very fluid grace. i see it changing every day. i feel very good about the campaign in pennsylvania. i have got great support from the governor to the mayors of philadelphia and pittsburgh and so many people. we have congressman murtha come out and endorse meet this week. i feel really good about the next big contest, at pennsylvania is another state where the road to pennsylvania avenue leads through the state of pennsylvania, so i emblidge to run a very vigorous campaign to be in position to run in the fall. greta: april 22, what are the numbers there in pennsylvania?
:: i do not make predictions. i just want to do as well as i can. greta, people do not want this to be over. there was some poll today that somebody told me about 22% of the people said i should quit or 22% of obama' s people said he should quit, and others said to let it go on. that is what people are telling me. that is what we have to do. let the voters have a chance to be heard. nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over. greta: do you ever talk to senator obama? do you call or e-mail each other, or is there no relationship to
:: not frequently, but every so often, we have had conversations. we used to. in the senate, we used to see each other much more frequent, and when we were back voting on this budget votes, a few weeks ago, we had conversations, so when we see each other, we certainly talk. greta: the economy is a big word, and we talk a lot about it, but when you get to the bottom line, it is about people having jobs. can you give me a 32nd? if i am a voter, and i need a job, what are you going to do for me?
:: we did it in the 1990' s. it is not like we do not know how to do it. we had presidential leadership that does not know our does not seem to be focused on it. we have got to get back to fiscal responsibility which helps to create confidence and generate savings, which then can be better utilized in the private sector. we need to invest in a clean energy jobs. i think we could create at least 5 million new jobs over the next 10 jobs in clean, renewable energy, all different kinds. i think we need to have an infrastructure program to rebuild america. we have cut bridges collapsing. i-95 was closed. we have levies collapsing. we have all of this pent up demand to build our country again, and i would love to see us put thousands of people to work doing that, and i think we have to end president bush' s war on science. you know, we have that climate change and stem cell research and so many scientific issues politicize. science is a driver of the economy. we have to end the tax benefits that are still in our tax code that ashley gives businesses benefits for taking jobs out of america and moving them to a foreign country, and we have to have a new trading policy that says to our partners, who we are not going to let you take advantage of our market anymore. this we are going to stand up and say, if you access to our market, it has to be reciprocal. we have to have environmental standards. he is so exciting to me, because when i look at our country, i know that there is not a problem that we cannot solve. we just have to start acting like americans again. we have to roll up our sleeves and be in genius and innovative, and we will start creating those jobs again. greta: there is so much work to do listening to you. i am exhausted be an air force one, i would take, but what makes you want this job? why do you even want this?
:: because i love my country. greta: but a lot of people love their country.
:: but not everybody has been as blessed. i have a unique set of experiences on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. i know that being president is the toughest job in the world, and yet, i believe with all of my heart that we can reverse the damage that has been done during the bush administration rea we can get back to build a strong and prosperous middle class and retain our leadership once again in the world, and i know that on the other end of pennsylvania avenue that congress will respond. you know, it is not always easy, but you can put together the votes you need to make the kind of changes that america expects and deserves. greta: one last question that i posted to your husband last week in new orleans and i would pose to anyone in this position -- you did criticize. is it harder for you, when your family gets criticized, then when we take swipes at even the media, or when people take swipes with it is in much worse when a family member gets it?
:: it is much worse. you kind of expected. you put your armor on every day. you said to believe. you keep going. but it is not only family, but friends, people you admire and respect -- that is always tougher. greta: thank you, senator.
:: thank you. good to see you. greta: karl rove is an equal opportunity guy. senator obama' s team and they
