Clinton tells AP she's not a big gambler

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Here's a good bet. If Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton decides to do some gambling in Nevada, check out the blackjack table. "I'm not much of a gambler, but I have gambled," the New York senator said in a brief interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, adding that her favorite game probably is blackjack.

Clinton was in Nevada, one of the early voting states, to participate in a candidate forum. Democrats recently circulated a 44-page document repackaging Las Vegas and Nevada, considered the wild child of American culture, as utterly ordinary.

Heartland over a gambling image? Clinton laughed and said, "I don't know anything about that. I think it's funny."

In the interview, Clinton addressed a number of questions, including several of concern to Western voters and one dealing with her husband — former President Clinton.

If she's elected president, will Bill Clinton get an office in the West Wing?

"I never think ahead," Clinton said. "I'm like the person sitting in the dugout. I don't want to talk about it during the game."

Clinton said protecting the environment is critical although she doesn't oppose the presence of large mining companies that have major operations in Nevada.

"There's a role for mining. I'm not against any industry," Clinton said. "I just think everybody has to be held to certain standards because the world and our beautiful country, particularly here in the West, is a common good that we all have a stake in trying to preserve."

Earlier in the day, Clinton met with state lawmakers. Her quick stroll through the Nevada legislative building caused a stir that pulled Democrats from morning hearings and Republicans into the hallways — mostly just to watch.

A crowd of 30 or so, including lobbyists, a local coffee shop owner and Miss Nevada Caydi Cole, huddled in Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus' office to meet Clinton.

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Associated Press Writer Kathleen Hennessey contributed to this report.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070221/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_gambling [link]