Prometheus 6

With a New Speech, Clinton Lays Out Goals as President
By PATRICK HEALY

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Sept. 2 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York unveiled a new stump speech on Sunday, outlining the “four big goals” she would have as president and saying she was willing to “work within the system” and make “principled compromises” to achieve them.

Praising the leadership styles of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, Mrs. Clinton described herself as a pragmatist and an alliance-builder. Without naming names, she said her strategies would yield more results than those of her two chief rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

“From my time in the White House and in the Senate, I learned you bring change by working in the system established by the Constitution,” Mrs. Clinton said at an early afternoon rally in Concord, drawing a pointed contrast to the outsider messages of Mr. Obama and Mr. Edwards. Referring to the Roosevelts and Johnson, she said, “They got big things done because they knew it wasn’t just about the dream, it’s about the results.”

“I want to work within the system,” Mrs. Clinton said. “You can’t pretend the system doesn’t exist.”

Mrs. Clinton, who has won praise from some Republican senators for working with them on legislation, said she would try to follow that approach as president, but without sacrificing important values like preserving Social Security and protecting abortion rights.

“You have to know when to stick to your principles and fight,” she said, “and know when to make principled compromises.”