U.S. Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., emphasized the need for national change at the Founders Day Gala Saturday night in Milwaukee.
Clinton and Obama spoke at the annual fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. The event was an opportunity for voters to see the two
Democratic candidates side-by-side before the Wisconsin primary Tuesday.
Following an introduction by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, Sen. Clinton took the stage.
After seven years of this government of the few, by the few and for the few, we have to bring change to America and set our country back on the right track,"" Clinton said.
She called it a ""national disgrace"" that 547,000 people in Wisconsin do not have health insurance and promised that as president she would provide universal health care for the 47 million people in the United States without health insurance.
Clinton said she plans to quickly end the Iraq War and would begin withdrawing troops 60 days into her first term as president.
Clinton said she recognizes the people of Wisconsin have a difficult choice to make on Tuesday. Responding to critics who call her too tough, Clinton said she will be a president who ""gets up every single day with determination, backbone and, yes, toughness"" to fight for the American people.
After Clinton's speech, Gov. Jim Doyle introduced Sen. Obama.
Obama stressed the importance of getting Americans involved in politics and restoring hope to the political process.
""The stakes are too high and the challenges are too great to play the same old Washington games with the same old Washington players and the same old lack of results,"" Obama said.
Obama directly criticized Clinton's health-care plan and said asking people to buy health care they cannot afford is not the solution. He said that after his first term in office any American who wants health insurance coverage will have it, and no one will be turned away by insurance companies for preexisting conditions.
He said that as president he would bring jobs back to America and put money back into the hands of middle-class Americans.
""If we cannot inspire the country to believe again, then it doesn't matter how many policies or plans we have,"" he said.
Obama said he opposed the Iraq War from the start, calling it ""unwise."" He said he is the only candidate that John McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, cannot fault for supporting the war.
Obama has been campaigning in Wisconsin throughout the past week, and Clinton will be speaking Monday night at Monona Terrace before the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday.
