Clinton compares herself to 'Rocky'

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Addressing a meeting of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Tuesday, the former first lady and New York senator said she, like Rocky, wasn't a quitter.

Recalling a famous scene on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Clinton said to end her presidential campaign now would be as if "Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum steps and said, 'Well, I guess that's about far enough.'"

"Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up. And neither do the American people," Clinton said.

She promised that as president she would create 3 million new jobs through investments in public infrastructure.

Clinton also told the labor audience that as first lady she had forcefully battled NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, even as her husband was aggressively pushing for its passage through Congress. The agreement is widely unpopular with organized labor because it helped clear the way for many blue-collar jobs to be moved to Mexico and other countries with cheaper labor costs.

"I did speak out and oppose NAFTA," she said. "I raised a big yellow flag and said 'I don't think this will work.'"

How strongly Clinton worked against NAFTA while in the White House remains a matter of some dispute. Former aides to Bill Clinton have said she was skeptical of the agreement, but largely because she felt it conflicted with her effort to pass health care reform.

Speaking to reporters later, Clinton insisted she had voiced objections to the substance of the proposal, not just its timing.

"I was in many meetings starting in the '92 campaign — I raised questions," she said. "I did it in the White House again, in meetings with as many different audiences in the White House in the decision-making process that I could speak to. But the president made a decision. As part of an administration, I believe you support the president, and I did."

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