Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her
second radio ad Monday in early voting South Carolina,
focusing on her plan to make college more affordable
and preschool available to all children.
''We have many
children who are poor, who are sick, who are neglected,''
the New York senator says in the 60-second ad airing
statewide. ''I think education is the passport to
opportunity.''
An announcer says
Clinton ''knows that South Carolina's children are
struggling to get a decent education, a good job, a shot at
the future.'' Clinton wants to improve child,care,
health care, and education for all, the ad says.
Last week, the
front-runner proposed expanding a tax credit for students
and their families to make college more affordable, along
with $250 million in grants for colleges and
universities that develop programs to boost graduation
rates, particularly for low-income and minority
students.
The South
Carolina ad highlights Clinton's work 35 years ago with the
Washington-based Children's Defense Fund, where she was a
staff attorney after graduating Yale Law School. The
private, nonprofit group's mission is to serve as a
voice for children, especially for the poor, minorities,
and the disabled.
The senator's
first ad, aired last month, also focused on education in
South Carolina. She said children in the state's so-called
''Corridor of Shame,'' a nickname given to poor, rural
school districts along Interstate 95, are invisible to
President Bush.
The corridor is
where several school districts have sued the state,
saying the way it pays for schools is unfair. (Seanna Adcox,
AP)
