Clinton backs gays in military By Tony Leys, Des Moines Register
DECORAH, Iowa — Gay troops should be able to serve in the U.S. military without hiding their sexual identity, Sen. Hillary Clinton said here Sunday.
Clinton said it's time to drop the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which began when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. The policy says that gays may serve in the military if they keep their homosexuality secret but that they can be tossed out if they don't.
"Right now, we are discharging soldiers? at a time when we don't have enough people to do the missions we need around the world? because they're gay. Not because they've done anything, but just because they're gay," she said.
Clinton, one of the Democrats' leading presidential candidates, quoted the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, a conservative Republican who supported the rights of gay troops: "I think the question should be not whether you are straight, but whether you shoot straight." Clinton spoke about the issue in response to a question from the audience during a campaign visit to Luther College. She also said she supported the right of gay Americans to join in civil unions, though she did not mention the more controversial idea of gay marriage.
The New York senator touched on numerous topics during a "town hall" talk before about 1,000 people in northeast Iowa.
"Some of the damage that has been done, we didn't know about. We didn't understand," she said. "But now we do, and we have no excuses left." She said she favors capping greenhouse-gas emissions and financing alternative-energy research with money now going to subsidize oil companies.
Clinton criticized the Bush administration on numerous fronts, including education, taxation and the Iraq war. She described "a heartbreaking development," in which former allies have turned away from the United States because of President Bush's overbearing approach to diplomacy.
She also spoke about the need for universal health care, noting that she led an effort to create such a system when her husband was president.
Audience member Rita Tejada brought her daughters? Lara, 9, and Rita Marie, 11, to see someone who might become the nation's first female president.
Tejada said Clinton should stress the health care issue more. The Luther College Spanish teacher said that the subject will be among the most crucial in the election and that Clinton has the best chance of achieving universal health care. "She has the experience from before," Tejada said.
Dick Guilgot of Decorah said he probably will support Clinton. "I think she's the best, common-sense, moderate Democrat," he said.
Guilgot believes Clinton could win both the nomination and the general election, although he acknowledged some Democrats' fears that she would turn off too many independents.
"I think it's going to be a challenge," he said. "There's a negative factor she can't deny."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-04-22-clinton-iowa_N.htm
