KYLE - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton asked Native American voters Wednesday to look ahead to the November general election as they cast their votes in the South Dakota presidential primary.

If they do, Clinton said, they are likely to conclude that she's a better bet than Sen. Barack Obama to beat Republican Sen. John McCain in November and go on to the White House to address overlooked Native American needs.

"Who is the most likely to win? That's the ultimate question to ask yourself," Clinton said during a 40-minute speech in front of the Little Wound school.

Speaking to a mostly Native audience of about 350 people, Clinton said she leads Obama in the popular vote after months of Democratic primaries and caucuses, even though the Illinois senator is ahead in Democratic delegates. Repeating what her husband, former President Bill Clinton, said in a series of South Dakota reservation stops Sunday, Clinton said she has the best chance of beating the presumptive Republican nominee on Election Day.

And she promised to be a president who would never forget Native people, something she claims President George W. Bush has done.

"I will be your champion," Clinton said. "I will fight for you. I will stand up for you. And I will work my heart out for you."

The New York senator promised to issue an executive order as president assuring government-to-government collaboration between federal officials and agencies and Native American tribes. She also promised to restore a tribal liaison office in the White House that was begun by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, but discontinued during the current administration of President George W. Bush.

Clinton said she would call a summit with Native American leaders soon after taking office. She would seek ways to make Native American reservations - which are part of the "Saudi Arabia of wind" in the blustery plains - hotspots for energy development that would provide jobs and provide alternative energy supplies.

And she repeated an earlier pledge to elevate the director of the Indian Health Service to an upper-level spot in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Clinton said she would push for full IHS funding as well as expand and improve outpatient care for veterans. That would include satellite Veterans Affairs medical facilities that could be especially useful to Native American veterans on Pine Ridge and other isolated reservations.

"The veterans here on Pine Ridge have to travel long distances to access the VA system," Clinton said.

Clinton highlighted veterans' needs during the speech, something she would focus on later Wednesday during a rally in Rapid City. At Little Wound, she pledged to improve benefits for military veterans, including Native Americans who serve in the armed services at rates higher than the national average.

Iva Good Voice Flute, an Oglala Sioux Tribe member who served with the Air Force in Saudia Arabia during the Persian Gulf War, introduced Clinton at the event and praised her as a leader with a long commitment to Native Americans and to veterans. That commitment includes continued support for improved educational benefits for veterans, she said.

"She respects our military veterans and our men and women in uniform," Good Voice Flute said.

Among those gathered for Clinton's speech was Bruce Whalen, a tribal member and 2006 Republican nominee for the U.S. House in South Dakota who lost to Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. Whalen wore a "Hillary" button as he listed to the speech. As Clinton shook hands afterward, Whalen said he was pulling for Clinton because "She is one of the two best candidates for president in the race," the other being the senator from Arizona, John McCain.

Whalen said he believes Obama is more liberal than Clinton and further from South Dakota's philosophy.

"We should be voting for the more conservative candidate, and that's her," Whalen said.

Whalen said he would vote for McCain over Obama in the general election but hadn't decided on a choice between McCain and Clinton.

Olivia Sierra, a member of the Crow Tribe in Montana who lives in Pine Ridge and teaches art at Little Would High School, said she is a fan and supporter of both Hillary and Bill Clinton. She was inspired by Hillary Clinton's speech Wednesday and hopeful about what the candidate could do for Native people.

"I like her humanity," Sierra said. "She's a really good woman."

But Sierra also said there was strong support on the reservation for Obama. As a Clinton staffer handed out "Hillary" stickers after the event, a Native boy stood next to her whispering "Obama" to passers-by.

And Vicki Sherman, a tribal member who lives in Rapid City, was in the Kyle area Wednesday but didn't bother to attend the Clinton event.

"She's really a part of the establishment. Bill did a great job as president. But both of them have kind of become part of what's wrong with the system," Sherman said at a convenience store at nearby Sharps Corner. "I'm hopeful that Obama could bring change."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com.