Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton used a Thursday appearance in Lake Forest,
Calif., at one of the nation's largest evangelical
churches, to sketch a broad agenda to take on disease
around the globe, calling it ''the right thing to
do.''
The centerpiece
of a speech laced with Biblical references and
reflections on her own faith was a call to spend billions of
dollars to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases
at home and abroad. She said she would try to stamp
out malaria deaths in Africa within eight years.
Money and
government alone cannot solve the problems, she said. AIDS
''is a problem of our common humanity, and we are
called to respond with love, with mercy, and with
urgency,'' she said.
With the
presidential campaign intensifying in Iowa, New Hampshire,
and South Carolina, Clinton was alone among leading
candidates to fly to coastal California to appear at
Saddleback Church in Orange County, where pastor and
best-selling author Rick Warren convenes a conference each
year to highlight the global threat posed by HIV/AIDS.
Earlier this week
Clinton released her proposal to combat the spread of
HIV, which focuses in part on fighting the spread of the
virus in minority communities. As president, she would
double the HIV and AIDS research budget at the
National Institutes of Health -- to $5.2 billion
annually -- and spend at least $50 billion within five years
around the globe.
On Thursday,
speaking to about 1,700 conference attendees, she said that
as president she would also call for spending $1 billion a
year to address malaria infection in Africa. She set a
goal of eradicating malaria deaths in Africa by the
end of her second term.
Many Christian
conservatives dread the possibility of another Clinton
White House, a point of agreement in a year when prominent
leaders in the movement have divided their loyalties
among GOP contenders.
There was a
sprinkle of criticism from conservatives in response to
Clinton's appearance at the church, but it was muted
compared to last year when more than a dozen
conservative leaders signed a letter urging Warren to
rescind an invitation to Sen. Barack Obama, who supports
abortion rights. The church defended his appearance.
Warren is
theologically and socially conservative, but he is known for
avoiding the scrum of partisan politics. The author of
The Purpose-Driven Life has devoted much of his
time in recent years mobilizing evangelicals to fight AIDS
in Africa.
The speech gave
Clinton a chance to appear onstage with the popular
pastor -- who greeted her with a hug -- as well as talk at
length about her own faith.
''I've been
raised to understand the power and purpose of prayer,'' she
said at one point.
Warren thanked
her for attending. ''We invited all of them to come, but
she was the one who showed up,'' he said. (Michael
Blood, AP)
