Hillary's hard-won experience

In an interview with Salon, the candidate discusses the "vast right-wing conspiracy," being called by her first name, and how long U.S. troops would be in Iraq if she wins in 2008.

Editor's note: Walter Shapiro's story on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire can be read here.

By Walter Shapiro

Read more: George W. Bush, Democratic Party, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Politics, News, Walter Shapiro, John Edwards, Robert Gates, Iraq War, Barack Obama, 2008 election, Iraq Study Group, Candidate interviews

June 18, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton was interviewed over the telephone by Salon last Thursday afternoon before she flew to New Hampshire.

The first time I interviewed you was in the governor's mansion in Little Rock in 1992. So I was tempted to ask: Anything happen in your life since then?

Oh, I don't know. What's new with you?

You were quoted the other day when asked about Barack Obama's fundraising numbers and you said that if he out-raised you in the second quarter, "It would mean nothing to my campaign." What did you mean by that? Are you saying that we in the press place too much importance on fundraising numbers?

Well, I'm afraid you might [be over-emphasizing fundraising numbers]. Because the real challenge is whether you have a strategy you're pursuing and the resources to implement your strategy. When I ran in 2000, I was outraised and outspent by nearly 2-to-1 by both of my opponents. It never bothered me for a moment because my concern was making sure that I had the resources -- which I did -- to run my campaign as I expected it to run.

And that's how I feel about this. We've done very well. We will continue to do very well. But I keep focused on what I'm doing. I have no control over what anybody else does. And it has served me well -- and I think it will serve me well in this campaign. And it will serve me well when I'm president.

Let me ask something that comes up every time I write about you. I sometimes refer to you on, say, the fifth reference as "Hillary" instead of "Clinton." I always get three or four letters saying that I am demeaning women by referring to you by your first name. But your campaign materials refer to you as "Hillary" and the word "Clinton" might also apply to another well-known public person. Do you have any feelings about this? Am I offending you every time I type "Hillary, Obama and Edwards"? Or do you have an open mind as long as I spell Hillary correctly?

I probably have more of an open mind. But I understand the point people are taking because if you also refer to Rudy and Mitt and John then that would be even-handed. I get the same indignation from a lot of women who read you and others and say, "They never call the other candidates by their first name."

And I think that in print -- as opposed to building a campaign that really does use my first name because it is so identified with who I am -- that's the concern that people have.

For Democratic voters, one of the ways of sorting out the field is electability. Do you think electability should include how would this candidate do in a three-way race in which Mike Bloomberg, running as an independent, is part of it?

Well, I'm not going to answer hypotheticals because again I want to keep focused on running my campaign to the best of my ability. And I have no influence or control over what anybody else does to get in, or get out, or run on a third party. But I feel very confident that I can put together a winning campaign no matter who my opponents are.

Six months into a Hillary Clinton administration, about how many U.S. military personnel do you envision being in Iraq to handle what you've referred to in the past as "vital national security interests" -- from helping the Kurds to preventing Iran from crossing the border?

I cannot give you a figure because I will not become president until January 2009 and there is no way to predict what will occur between now and then. I have said repeatedly that I am committed to taking our combat troops out of the midst of this sectarian civil war. And there may well be vital national security interests that require a continuing presence, although I do not support permanent bases or a permanent occupation. When I'm elected -- and between the time that I am elected and the time I become president -- I will focus to a great extent (and nearly to the exclusion of a lot of other important matters) on being ready to make those decisions once I become president.

But it is just impossible to make any kind of credible predictions at this point. I am still hoping that the president will decide to follow the Iraq Study Group's recommendations and begin to alter the makeup and mission of our force before he leaves office. I think it is his responsibility to do that. So that's my principal emphasis during this time -- to try to persuade or require him to take the steps that I would have to do initially if he has not.

Next page: "It is complicated and dangerous to withdraw troops"