Former White House Secretary Tony Snow spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Annual Contra Costa USA dinner on Thursday night. I had the honor to 'emcee' the event and to introduce and interview Tony.
He was widely praised by a bi-partisan crowd, for discussing his insights on the White House and the Presidential campaign. Snow also spoke in depth about his continuing battle against stage-4 colon cancer.
He saved his most critical comments, for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for President, blaming its troubles on former President Bill Clinton.
"Her Rapscallion husband. He should shut up, " Snow said, "She's running for President." Later he added, "Bill Clinton is a wedge politician," and suggested the Clinton's are playing the "race card" against Barack Obama.
But Snow ultimately believes Hillary Clinton will win the nomination, based on the tough political experience that both she and her husband possess. He noted that the Clinton's have superior money and organization.
In one of the speech's funnier moments he said his old boss, President George W. Bush, might describe Hillary as "somebody who you should never mis-underestimate." The crowd roared with laughter!
Snow did praise Barack Obama's uplifting message, that has inspired so many young voters to come out, since they are a group that seldom votes: "Barack Obama is the only one who 'gets it' in terms of hope and optimism," Snow said.
On the Republican side, Snow called the race a real toss up and noted Florida's primary on Tuesday could be crucial. He called Rudy Giuliani's strategy of focusing almost solely on Florida, as "a roll of the dice in Florida, a riverboat gamble." But ultimately Snow thinks Giuliani will fail, because he took himself out of the critical Iowa and New Hampshire contests, and ultimately out of the media spotlight glaring on both states. "He (Giuliani) made himself irrelevant," Snow said.
Snow said Mitt Romney had perhaps the best resume' on the GOP side, but needed to jettison his "Ken doll" image. Snow praised Sen. John McCain for not bailing on President Bush when it comes to supporting the war in Iraq. "The one issue on which he (McCain) has been tough, has been the war." McCain is one of the few in Washington who supported the troop surge last year, a stance that cost him politically for a while, but his support has surged back.
At the end of the night, Snow spoke movingly of his fight against cancer, and the support of his wife and three children as well as a huge public outpouring. "People came out of the woodwork to help," Snow said.
He continues to recover from his cancer, and even stopped during his speech to take 3 Chemotherapy pills. He praised the great advances in medicine, his religious faith and the kindness of people, for his continuing victory against colon cancer.
I will be in Florida as of Sunday to cover the GOP Primary: Please check in often and tell your friends about www.markcurtismedia.blogspot.com.
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