Hillary Clinton is taking aim at the voters she needs to win. They are the middle class, blue collar voters that John Edwards has been courting.
Senator Hillary Clinton challenged the Bush Administration to pass an economic stimulus package that she says will help low and middle income families keep their homes.
"My plan focuses on the middle class and working families who deserve the relief and need the help right now," said Clinton.
Her plan calls for $30 billion dollars in emergency housing aid for families who are in danger of losing their houses, $25 billion dollars in energy assistance to cover rising winter heating bills, $10 billion dollars to extend unemployment insurance, $5 billion dollars for alternative energy investments, and a 90-day moratorium on sub-prime foreclosures.
Right on target says our political analyst, Professor Bruce Cain.
"She's hit the major problems that are on the minds of a lot of voters -- the sub-prime mortgage problem, the heating problem, the unemployment problem," says Professor Cain.
U.C.'s political expert in Washington says Barack Obama's economic proposals cover some of the same territory He's proposing a tax cut for working families, a 10-percent mortgage credit and a fund to help families refinance their sub-prime loans. However, Obama's proposals aren't as focused or as specific as Clinton's.
"She's really targeted the problems that are in the newspapers today, whereas Barack Obama's proposals are all over the map," says Professor Cain.
Professor Cain also points out that voter research shows Barack Obama is getting more support from the higher end of the income scale than the lower end. What Clinton is trying to do is solidify support among low and middle income voters as campaigns move into states that have more of those voters. That has been John Edwards' strategy -- he campaigned today in South Carolina.
"What this race is about and what this election is about is about standing up and fighting for the middle class in this country because the middle class is struggling every single day," said Edwards.
However, if Edwards doesn't do much better in South Carolina, it will be hard for his campaign to keep going. Plus, Clinton's announcement today appears to be a step towards recruiting his followers. Obama's campaign says his proposals were out first and would be more effective than Clinton's.
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