Hillary Clinton Addresses Auto Industry with Speech at NADA Convention

Hillary Clinton Thanks Car Dealers During Her Speech at NADA Convention - Automotive Digital Marketing Professional Community

Hillary Clinton Cites Key Role of Auto Industry in Driving the US Economic Recovery in Her Keynote Address to Car Dealers at the 2014 NADA Convention in New Orleans...

Hillary Rodham Clinton heaped on praise for the U.S. auto industry's role as a job creator and driving force in the nation's economic recovery on Monday (Jan. 27) during a speech at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Expo in New Orleans.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the National Automobile Dealers Association meeting in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert)

Based on original report by Jennifer Larino, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | Follow on Twitter



Despite all her praise for the thousands of car dealers in the audience, the former first lady, senator from New York and US Secretary of State joked with the traditionally very Republican and very conservative auto industry retailers, suppliers and factory executives gathered at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans that it has been quite some time since she's taken the wheel herself...

"The last time I actually drove a car myself was in 1996...I remember it very well. Unfortunately, so does the Secret Service, which is why I haven't driven since then." – Hillary Rodham Clinton

Clinton's talk was promoted by NADA as the highlight of the 4 day convention and was delivered at the very end of the annual NADA event.



The 2014 NADA Convention drew more than 20,000 auto dealers, suppliers and factory personnel, as well as other industry representatives. These thousands of car people started arriving on Wednesday and Thursday and worked their industry's largest Convention, which comes to New Orleans every four years, from Thursday through Monday. 



Hillary Clinton echoed many of the opening remarks made by NADA leadership, while emphasizing the role small businesses, led by car dealers and the rest of the auto industry have played in rebuilding the US economy on both the domestic and global markets for American built cars and trucks.

"Every day in countless places and in countless small ways, businesses like yours help to stitch our country together, the fabric, the richness of it," – Hillary Rodham Clinton

Her NADA Keynote was one of dozens of speaking engagements Clinton has lined up across the country since stepping down from her post as the nation's top diplomat in 2012.  In recent interviews and speeches, Clinton has backed same-sex marriage, prodded Congress to rewrite immigration laws and lamented the overall and pervasive gridlock in Washington D.C. All of which appear to be the requisite political posturing that would lead up to Clinton making a run for the Democratic nomination as their candidate for the 2016 presidential election.

The New York Times reports that Clinton is fetching up to $200,000 per appearance.

On Monday at the NADA Convention in New Orleans, Clinton interwove memories of the worn out and mechanically unreliable clunkers she drove early in her career with more recent lessons learned during her time as secretary of state under the Obama administration.

"We have to show a face to the world that says very clearly, you want to be on America'€™s side." – Hillary Rodham Clinton

During a question and answer session with outgoing NADA Chairman Dave Westcott, Clinton brushed aside a question about whether she plans to run for president in 2016. She said she's more focused on looming issues such as the debt limit than making a second bid.

"Let's solve the problems that we have elected officials to solve right now," Clinton said. "We can worry about the next election later. I think we spend too much time looking over the horizon instead of looking straight ahead."







Clinton said a healthy auto industry is key to the nation's economic well-being.

Clinton, who as a senator supported the use of government funds to bailout banks and U.S. automakers (General Motors and Chrysler) after the 2008 financial crisis, said rising auto sales and increased manufacturing show government investments in the auto industry worked as intended.



"That doesn't mean that they were not without cost," Clinton said. "I know NADA lost dealerships, lost jobs, lost those small businesses that were at the core of a lot of communities. But the overall picture turned out to be positive." 



Clinton highlighted a General Motors manufacturing plant in Uzbekistan opened in 2011 as an example that the recovery of the American economy will be global in scale.

   

She said key policy issues stand in the way of global growth, including working to build a positive relationship with China, the world's largest emerging market, as well as taking a strategic approach to opportunities afforded by a boom in domestic natural gas and oil production.







"We are engaged, we are leading because we care about our values, we care about democracy, we care about human dignity and all that goes along with it," Clinton said. "But we also want to build middle classes that will buy American products. We have to show a face to the world that says very clearly, you want to be on America's side."



Source for Above: NOLA.com/business/hillary_clinton