In N.H., N.Y. Senator Cites Republican Presidents

MERRIMACK, N.H. — As she travels throughout the Granite State, Senator Clinton is invoking an unlikely trio: Presidents Eisenhower, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.

Appropriating some conservative rhetoric and even a few conservative policies was a hallmark of Mrs. Clinton's husband, President Clinton, who so distanced himself from congressional Democrats that his style was dubbed "the third way."

But while Mrs. Clinton isn't saying so explicitly, her references to the popular Republican triumvirate are the best examples yet of how she plans to: 1) vanquish her more left-leaning rivals, Senator Obama of Illinois and John Edwards, and 2) build her appeal with the independents and Republicans she will need to win over if she is going to be elected president.

So far, her approach appears to be working in New Hampshire, where three recent polls — Zogby, ARG, and the University of New Hampshire — have her leading 38% to 23%, 41% to 22%, and 41% to 19%, respectively, over her closest rival, Mr. Obama.

New York's junior senator has met with success here by advancing a series of substantive, policy-oriented initiatives. In August, for example, she called for $17 billion in transportation infrastructure improvements and a $1 billion fund to help borrowers hurt by the mortgage-lending crisis.

Yesterday, Mrs. Clinton spoke at the headquarters of GT Solar, Inc., a conveyor of solar technologies to contractors and manufacturers. Two Republican presidential hopefuls have made campaign stops there already. A former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, spoke there in February, and Mayor Giuliani made a stop in August.

Her focus at GT Solar was on "innovation" and the economy, a subject of interest in New Hampshire's Southern tier, populated in part by tech-friendly Massachusetts exiles. Mrs. Clinton's plan calls for the designation of $50 billion to fund an "energy research agency" — financed by oil companies and charged with developing alternatives to foreign petroleum — and the doubling of the research budget at federal agencies.

The Republican National Committee is expected to launch a "spend-o-meter" soon that attempts to tabulate the cost of all of Mrs. Clinton's various proposals. Estimates of the cost of the programs Senator Clinton has advocated exceed $700 billion.

Such new programs, she said, were in keeping with prior bipartisan commitments of American presidents. "This is not a Democratic or Republican conviction. We've had presidents from both parties who have been progressive in thinking through how to deal with" the economic problems they faced "at the time they were in office," she said. "I like to think about President Lincoln. In the middle of a civil war, he supported the construction of the first transcontinental railroad and the creation of land grant colleges. … Theodore Roosevelt stepped in and made the economy safe for competition again by busting up the big trusts that were forcing small guys out of business and trying to monopolize markets. President Eisenhower challenged our nation to respond to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik."

Mrs. Clinton cited Eisenhower again at the end of her speech in an apparent jab at President Bush. "President Eisenhower brought in his science advisers and then actually listened to them and then put forth an agenda that we implemented," she said.

An RNC spokesman took issue with the statements of the former first lady. "Hillary Clinton's history lesson conveniently ignores the fact that great leaders have made necessary and tough decisions to protect America, character traits she has failed to demonstrate," Danny Diaz said. "Clinton's reckless spending proposals would severely damage our economy, and the only thing she would ‘bust' is the finances of taxpaying families."

The campaign of Mr. Giuliani also criticized Mrs. Clinton's ideas on the grounds of cost.

"Past presidents have inspired the country to think big, but Hillary Clinton inspires only to spend big," Mr. Giuliani's deputy communications director, Jason Miller, said in a statement. "Mayor Giuliani has a better idea — reduce the tax burden and government overregulation that's keeping a lid on American economic expansion."

Debora Pignatelli, a New Hampshire executive councilor, said Mrs. Clinton's programs would help her attract support in the region. "This is a perfect place for her to talk about innovation. We have a lot of entrepreneurs in New Hampshire," Ms. Pignatelli said. Last night, Mrs. Clinton's Boston supporters also planned a major fund-raiser for her at the city's Symphony Hall. Mr. Obama's strong fund-raising network has been a cause of concern for the Clinton campaign, largely bereft of worries.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Obama, Jen Psaki, said his campaign was still drawing support: "We have built organizations from the ground up in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, and what we are seeing in these key states and across the country is the more people get to know about Barack Obama and his commitment to changing this country, the more they think he is the right choice."