May 4, 2008 (LPAC)--Senator Hillary Clinton, appearing on a town hall-format ABC-TV news show in Indianapolis on Sunday, maintained her sharp focus on the economic crisis and the hard times faced by the vast majority of Americans in the lower 80 percent income brackets. In response to one audience question, citing Alexander Hamilton's focus on manufacturing, Senator Clinton differentiated herself from both John McCain and Barack Obama, by stressing the need to defend and expand U.S. manufacturing jobs. She attacked Bush era legislation that created tax incentives for U.S. corporations to export manufacturing jobs, and said she would renegotiate the NAFTA treaty if elected President. She also reiterated her pledge to work for a universal health care system, noting that the skyrocketing costs of health care have further eroded U.S. manufacturing.

In response to another question, about the collapse of agriculture, Clinton focused on the global food crisis, citing rioting in Haiti and other countries, faced with starvation. She noted that the shift to biofuels, based on corn and soy, has further added to the food crisis.

Pressed on her published warnings to Iran about harsh American retaliation if they obtained a nuclear weapon and attacked Israel, Clinton emphasized that she would engage in tough but comprehensive diplomacy with Iran, and she also said she would ask the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff to draw up a withdrawal plan from Iraq, that would start the pullout of American troops 60 days after she took office.

After emphasizing that the last seven years had been ``really hard on Americans,'' Sen. Clinton concluded the one-hour dialogue with voters in both Indiana and North Carolina by saying that the American people urgently needed a ``champion'' of their needs in the White House.