Politics on the Hudson

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said today that voters would be remiss if they voted for the McCain-Palin ticket because they like having a woman on the ticket.

She said she’s held more than 40 events for the Obama campaign to spread his message of change.

“I make the case as strongly as I can that our country must have new leadership,” she said after attending a firefighters’ memorial event in Albany. (Shown left with Gov. Paterson.)

“The McCain-Palin ticket does not offer that. They offer more of the same failed policies,” she said. “So I think that there are people who are excited by the fact that the Republicans have a woman on the ticket. I think that’s a legitimate reason to be excited.

“The Democrats did it in 1984, Republicans got around to doing it in 2008. And there’s reason for people to see that as a real milestone.

“But that’s not a reason to vote for the McCain-Palin ticket. You have to ask yourself, who is going to be better for you and your family? And in New York it’s not even close. We will have such a better future if we have Democratic leadership back in the White House.”

Clinton was in town to also endorse Democratic congressional candidate Paul Tonko in the 21st District race and to attend an announcement of plans by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to build a new facility in the Albany area—which includes $1.2 billion in government aid.