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Focusing on health care, sovereignty, Clinton fights Obama for Native Amercan vote
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FarkSen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged Tuesday to use the power of the presidency to provide better medical care for Native Americans, who suffer more severe ailments and die younger than the U.S. population as a whole.
In doing so, she also reached out to often-disaffected Native voters who could be crucial in her presidential campaign against Sen. Barack Obama in the state's June 3 Democratic primary.
Joined on a telephone conference call by a descendent of the Oglala Chief Red Cloud, Clinton said it was "just unacceptable and wrong" that Native people on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations in South Dakota have the shortest life expectancy of any minority group in the nation. Clinton said the past seven years of the Bush administration reversed progress made on Native issues during the 1990s under the administration of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
"I believe that we were on the right track during the 1990s, but that President Bush has neglected Indian Country, and that people are paying a terrible price," she said.
Lula Red Cloud of Hermosa praised Clinton for inviting Native educators to the White House when she was first lady and showing a long commitment to Native people.
"I believe that Hillary will be the best president for Indian Country, because she has always stood on the side of Native Americans, and she always fought for our needs."
Clinton's outreach to Native American voters could be especially important as she faces Obama in the last two Democratic primaries in the nation, here in South Dakota and in neighboring Montana. Each state has a substantial Native population with expansive reservations known for the beauty of their landscapes and the dire difficulties faced by tribal people living there.
The reservation vote has long been helpful to Democratic candidates for statewide office in South Dakota. In 2002, Native voters were especially key to Sen. Tim Johnson's 524-vote win over Republican challenger John Thune.
Hillary Clinton came into the presidential campaign with solid standing among Native people in South Dakota because of her husband's popularity as president. That was enhanced by his 1999 visit to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to South Dakota's largest tribe, the Oglala Lakota.
Obama has made an aggressive outreach to Native Americans, however, winning widespread support among reservation youths in South Dakota and capturing endorsements from the presidents and chairmen of the Oglala, Rosebud, Lower Brule and Cheyenne River tribes, among others. Robert Moore, a Rosebud Tribe council member who met with Obama during the candidate's visit to Sioux Falls last week, said the senator has attracted new reservations voters for the primary.
"I think he is resonating with lots of folks because of his inclusion of Indians in every broadcast speech," Moore said. "Being included as part of the fabric of the United States, that's a pretty substantial inclusion."
Clinton's news conference Tuesday came the day after Obama spoke at the Crow Agency in Montana, where he made pledges similar to Clinton's for improvements in health care, education and improved respect for tribal sovereignty. Obama has promised to have annual summits with tribal leaders at the White House and create a position of Native American policy adviser on his White House staff.
Clinton promises to elevate the director of the Indian Health Service to an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Like Obama, she co-sponsored the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and supports increased funding for the Indian Health Service.
When Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife in Pine Ridge last week, he said she would begin a health-care war to reduce the rate of diabetes in Native American youths. Citing statistics that show Native Americans in South Dakota are three times more likely than whites to die of diabetes, Clinton repeated that commitment and said elevating IHS would benefit Native people of all ages.
"A better-funded IHS will provide the better tools and services for those affected by diabetes at any stage of life," she said.
Like Obama, Clinton pledged to increase funds for tribal colleges, provide more support for Native education overall and back Head Start programs for the young. Clinton said she would pay for those initiatives by running "a fiscally responsible administration" that would find ways to pay for any tax cut or spending program it proposed. Meeting treaty obligations is a cause worth paying for, she said.
"I really believe we owe a debt to Indian Country that has not been paid," she said. "It's a priority for me. I just believe with all my heart that people deserve to have their needs met."
Clinton said she would return to South Dakota on Friday. She didn't say whether that visit would include a reservation or West River stop. Moore said he has emphasized to Obama campaign advisers the value of making a campaign stop on a South Dakota reservation.
"Bill Clinton's visit in the '90s might or might not have produced the outcomes that it deserved," Moore said. "But people remember that he came. I try to impress on the campaign how important that is."
Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com
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