Hillary talks about Obama, Indian issues

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — There is no doubt in her mind, said former first lady Hillary Clinton, that Navajo would fare a lot better under an Obama administration than under a McCain administration.

In a telephone interview from Sunland Park near Las Cruces, where she was giving a speech in support of the Democratic candidate for U.S. president, Barack Obama, Clinton said that there is definitely one thing that Obama will do that McCain won’t and that is listen to the concerns brought to him by Indian leaders.

Clinton has some knowledge of what has been going on in Navajoland, having been on the board for the Legal Services organization that funded DNA on the reservation. And then 16 years ago, she came to Window Rock with her daughter, Chelsea, as part of the campaign to get her husband, Bill, elected to his first term in the White House.

At that time, she talked of the suffering that the Navajo people endured under the Reagan and Bush years and of the programs that had been cut, promising that a Clinton administration would restore these programs. And, for the most part, the Clinton administration did that.

On Saturday, she started off the interview by saying she remembered being in Window Rock. “I enjoyed my time there,” she said, adding that a lot has happened since then.

As for Obama, she said that more than 100 tribal leaders and organizations, including Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., the Navajo Nation Council and the All-Indian Pueblo Council, have all endorsed Obama even though John McCain, his Republican opponent, has far better credentials, having been on the Select Committee on Indian Affairs for 20 years.

“That says a lot,” Clinton said.

She pointed out that Obama has pledged to create a White House position dealing solely with Indian Affairs and has promised to appoint a Native who would be responsible for meeting with him as needed and relaying concerns of tribal leaders in Indian Country. This person would also be informed, Clinton said, of upcoming policy decisions so he or she could provide any insight into the affect of these policy decisions on Indian Country.

Obama has also agreed to hold regular summit meetings annually where he would sit down with Indian leaders and hear their concerns first hand, Clinton said.

“It’s no wonder,” she said, “that Indian leaders feel more comfortable supporting Obama than McCain.”