With UCLA’s Krieger Child Care Center as a backdrop, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., announced plans on Wednesday for universal early childhood education as part of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
After L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his endorsement of the senator, Clinton shared the podium with the mayor as she expanded on her goals to “restore America’s greatness around the world.”
Most of Clinton’s campaign plans revolve around this theme, one she said she believes can be accomplished by promoting energy independence within the U.S., introducing affordable universal health care and halting the war in Iraq.
On the international scale, from global warming to global terrorism, she said it is essential for the United States to build alliances and partnerships and to restore the country’s image after, she believes, it has been disintegrating in recent years.
During her speech she also spoke about her views on domestic policy, emphasizing that implementing policies to help improve energy security and independence will have both environmental and economic benefits.
“(Energy independence) will create millions of new jobs that will enhance the prospects for the people that the mayor and I represent,” Clinton said.
Earlier in the afternoon, Clinton and Villaraigosa toured the center and jointly read a children’s storybook to the Krieger preschoolers, which is in line with her introduction of universal early childhood education as a platform.
“Giving our children a good start in life is not only the best we can do for them so they can live up to their God-given potential, but it’s in our interest as well. We will once and for all recognize that if we give these young children a chance, we, in effect, are making an investment in ourselves,” Clinton said.
Villaraigosa said he believes success in school starts with a quality preschool led by skilled and dedicated teachers, a quality which he saw in the school and in the children they met earlier.
“You see a sense of optimism that’s positively contagious. Being here, it’s impossible not to feel confident about our future and the great things these kids are going to build and do,” Villaraigosa said.
Villaraigosa went on to praise Clinton as a leader who would show the country “the way to another great American century” and change direction from the path that President Bush has led the country in for the past six years.
“Next year, the American people will make what I believe is the most important electoral decision of our lifetime,” the mayor said, adding that by supporting Clinton, voters would bring the country back toward “a new course and a brighter path.”
Kyle Kleckner, the president of the Bruin Democrats, said that with Villaraigosa’s position as the mayor of the second-largest city in the country and now one of the four national chairs for Clinton’s campaign, the mayor’s endorsement will help provide additional voter support.
“His endorsement of Clinton is extremely helpful for a presidential bid because he’s wildly popular among Angelenos and Hispanics. He’s someone that has been an innovator in leading Los Angeles,” Kleckner said.
Kleckner said that though Clinton’s platforms are very similar and in line with the changes the rest of the Democratic party hopes to introduce, she can appeal to students and the general American public through her experience and her past interest in education policy.
James Tsuei, a third-year political science student, said he admires her experience as a candidate, but disagrees with the former first lady on some issues, including immigration reform.
During her speech, Clinton noted that greater responsibility should be on Central and South American countries to tighten illegal immigration to the United States. But Tsuei said he believes more pressure should be put on the American government to ensure that these countries have economies capable of encouraging their citizens not to immigrate.
Though Tsuei said other Democratic candidates vying for the party’s bid, such as Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., have more of an appeal to young people, Anne Clement, a fourth-year political science student, said she believes Clinton’s eloquence and experience in education policy is very attractive to students.
“Her ideas and her experience in education makes her a viable candidate. Now she has a lot of power behind her and a lot of supporters. She has the mayor behind her,” Clement said.