U.S. Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, a leading candidate for the party's presidential nomination in next year's elections, pledged on Monday to rebuild her country's reputation abroad by telling the world, "the era of cowboy diplomacy is over."
"You cannot be a leader if no one is following," Clinton told a crowd of women activists at the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee's annual luncheon in New York.
She said the Republican Party offered "false choice" between liberty and security and between energy independence and the economy, the New York Sun reported online.
"I believe we can follow the constitution and protect ourselves," she said.
Confronting environmental problems would create jobs, make American business more competitive, and create independence from foreign energy sources, the senator said.
Clinton is the first female candidate who could realistically become president of the Unites States and she is trying to make sure plenty of women are on board her campaign.
She portrayed her campaign for the presidency as a historic moment built on the legacies of great women such as her hero Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady, reported the NY1 News, the New York City's 24-hour news channel broadcast on the web.
The senator said she draws comfort and gets inspiration during tough time on the campaign trail by remembering Roosevelt's famous line that women in politics must "grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros."
"So occasionally, I'll be sitting somewhere and I'll be listening to someone perhaps not saying the kindest things about me. And I'll look down at my hand and I'll sort of pinch my skin to make sure it still has the requisite thickness I know Eleanor Roosevelt expects me to have," she said.
The speech at the luncheon of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, which raises money for Democratic women running for office in New York, kicked off a week her campaign has dedicated to highlighting women's political clout.
"Is it easy to make history? Is it easy to change history? Of course not, but that's what women have always done," said Clinton.
Clinton will hold more events this week focusing on women, including a policy speech aimed at working parents and a major fundraiser with female supporters from across the country. Polls show women are already among her strongest supporters.
Source:Xinhua
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