Hillary: Don't Inflame Conservatives

Warning Arkansas Democrats to avoid doing things that inflame the state's conservative base, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton advised they seek "consensus on mainstream subjects."

"We do things that are controversial. We do things that try to inflame their base,” Clinton, D-N.Y., told the Arkansas Federation of Democratic Women, according to the New York Times. "We are wasting time.”

Concentrating on contentious issues only brings out the conservative base, she warned, without specifying such hot-button issues as gay marriage that inflame conservatives and drive them to the polls to vote for Republicans.

Turning to the present world situation, Clinton later told a gathering of mostly Democrats: "We just have to turn on the news, don’t we, to see what it’s like going on around the world -- so many conflicts. We need to get back to building partnerships and alliances, to making friends so we can influence decisions that other people make and have people working with us to stem the tide of terrorism and the threats that we confront.”

She added: "If we have to use military power, yes, we have to use it. But use it as a last resort, not as a first resort. Use it after all else has failed.”

The Times recalled that Arkansas supported Clinton's husband when he ran for president in 1992 and 1996, but then went for George W. Bush in 2000. Just 46 percent of Arkansas voted for then-Vice President Al Gore in that election, and four years later the percentage of votes for the Democratic candidate fell, with 44 percent backing Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Although the state’s two senators are Democrats, Arkansas has been increasingly seen as a Republican stronghold at the presidential level.