Hillary Clinton Campaigns In Oregon

Hillary Rodham Clinton played to a friendly college town crowd Sunday, urging her audience to strengthen Democratic numbers in Congress to help her husband’s programs.

The first lady spoke for 25 minutes to about 3,500 people at an outdoor rally at the Oregon State University campus, then shook hands for 10 more minutes.

The Oregon State stop was part of a 10-state swing by Clinton before the Tuesday general election. President Clinton has run well ahead of Republican contender Bob Dole in most publicly released Oregon independent polls.

Clinton said the president has made gains on all the major issues he has confronted and that his record has proven false predictions by critics and Republicans.

“Reality has intruded into their rhetoric,” she said, “and we know we are on the right track.”

Clinton cited the economy as an example, saying record numbers of small businesses have been formed and that the “combined rate of inflation and unemployment is the lowest in 28 years.”

Clinton drew applause when she told the mostly student crowd that she and her husband both went to college with the help of government-backed loans and that he is committed to access to higher education.

“We need to make sure no young man or woman is deprived if higher education for any financial reason whatsoever,” she said, pitching Clinton’s proposal for a $10,000 annual tax deduction college expenses.