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Instead, Clinton subtly knocked -- but did not name -- George W. Bush twice in a speech where she portrayed herself as a progressive fighter.

"If you look at the evidence, at the end of Bill Clinton's two terms, we had the longest peacetime expansion in American history with 22 million new jobs, a balanced budget and a surplus that would have paid off our national debt if it had not been rudely interrupted by the next administration," Clinton said to loud applause from the assembled Dartmouth College students and local Democrats.

RELATED: Hillary Clinton's 'Santa' is her hairdresser

Clinton argued that "there is just a pattern" in which a Republican President wrecks the economy and it is left to the succeeding Democratic President to fix it. As her proof, Clinton pointed to both her husband and President Barack Obama, who she argued does not get enough credit for his response to the recession when he took office 2009.

"There is just a pattern here where the other side keeps using the same old tired, failed policies. They don't work," Clinton said. "And then Democratic presidents have to come in and fix what was broken."

And as a pitch for herself, Clinton said, "So lets break that and have a Democratic President to continue the policies that actually work for the vast majority of Americans."

Clinton's visit to New Hampshire for the Fourth of July holiday is her fourth to the first-in-the-nation primary state since she launched her campaign in April. To date, the campaign has focused on small events and organizing, something Clinton's aides hope will pay off at primary time in January 2016.

At Friday's event, Clinton delivered her standard stump speech to a crowd of around 850, the campaign said.

"We have to take on the gun lobby one more time," Clinton said in a pitch for gun control. "At the very least, we need to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, people with serious mental challenges, terrorists, all of whom now are perfectly free to go and find a gun somewhere. This is a controversial issue, I am well aware of that. But I think it is the height of irresponsibility not to talk about it. So I will talk about it."

Clinton spoke at length about how difficult the presidency is, calling it the "hardest job in the world," but one she knows she wants.

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Clinton goes after a Bush in New Hampshire - CNNPolitics.com

Robert Farley, FactCheck.org 5:48 p.m. EDT July 2, 2015

Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a Jefferson Jackson event hosted by the Democratic Party of Virginia at George Mason University's Patriot Center, in Fairfax, Va., on June 26, 2015.(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

Two Republican presidential candidates claim the so-called "birther" movement originated with the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2008. While it's true that some of her ardent supporters pushed the theory, there is no evidence that Clinton or her campaign had anything to do with it.

In an interview on June 29, Sen. Ted Cruz said "the whole birther thing was started by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2008," and earlier this year, Donald Trump claimed "Hillary Clinton wanted [Obama's] birth certificate. Hillary is a birther."

Neither Cruz nor Trump presented any evidence that Clinton or anyone on her campaign ever questioned Obama's birthplace, demanded to see his birth certificate, or otherwise suggested that Obama was not a "natural born citizen" eligible to serve as president.

For those unfamiliar with the controversy over Obama's birthplace, it refers to those who contend that Obama was born in Kenya and ineligible to be president.

At FactCheck.org, we have written about the issue of Obama's birthplace on multiple occasions indeed we were the first media organization to hold his birth certificate in our hot little hands and vouch for the authenticity of it. But facts have done little to squelch the conspiracy theories that continue to bounce around online.

The issue arose again this week in an interview with Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. Yahoo News' Katie Couric asked Cruz if he thought that was going to be an issue for voters.

"It's interesting, the whole birther thing was started by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2008 against Barack Obama," Cruz said (at about the 25:25 mark). Cruz then went on to say that he believes he clearly meets the constitutional requirement for a president to be a "natural born citizen."

The claim about Clinton's tie to "birthers" was made earlier by Donald Trump in February at the CPAC event (at 24:20 mark). Trump who has a history of pushing bogus theories about Obama's birth said, "Hillary Clinton wanted [Obama's] birth certificate. Hillary is a birther. She wanted but she was unable to get it."

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Fact check: Was Hillary Clinton the original 'birther'?

This week, the State Department released a large batch of the emails that Hillary Clinton sent and received (on her personal account via a private server!) when she was secretary of state. The media, naturally, dove into this pool and quickly found the most amusing items among the 3,096 pages. One day, Clinton had heard about a Cabinet meeting on the radio and asked her aides, "Can I go?" Another time, she emailed the protocol chief at State, "Can you contact your protocol friend in China and ask him if I could get photos of the carpets of the rooms I met in w POTUS during the recent trip? I loved the designs." She once struggled to get a fax machine to work. Her emails showed how she and her lieutenants assiduously worked the press to get positive coverage. They revealed interesting details of her close relationship with author and political operative Sidney Blumenthal. But overall, this trove of emailsthe first of several to comedepicts Clinton as an earnest public servant toiling away on important affairs of state (global food security, Afghanistan policy, climate change, and international women's rights) while often operating in a Veep-like world, as in the HBO comedy in which Julia Louis-Dreyfuss plays a vice president-turned-president who must contend with absurdities and indignities large and small as she handles the gravest of matters.

These emails chronicle several scenes that could appear in the television show. At least, it would be easy to envision President (or Vice President) Selina Meyer in these situations.

* On December 17, 2009, Clinton zapped senior aide Jake Sullivan an email titled "Argentina." She noted, "The FM [foreign minister] just told me that Arturohad insulted their country. He was very upset and said I needed to do damage control. Can you figure out what he's talking about?" (She might have been referring to Arturo Valenzuela, then the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.) Within two minutes, Sullivan replied, "On it." And Clinton responded, "He's standing right inside the door here." In other words, it's awkward; hurry. Imagine Meyer stuck like this: The Argentine foreign minister is waiting for me, I told him I had to go to the bathroom, but now I have to tell him something about Arturo.

* A big part of the secretary of state's job is calling people: foreign officials, US officials, lawmakers, and policy advocates. Clinton's emails often refer to her call list for the day. Apparently, this was not a favorite task of hers. On November 26, 2009, her close aide Huma Abedin sent her a call sheet indicating that that morning she had 11 calls scheduled from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. with the foreign ministers of Japan, France, Poland, Canada, Brazil, Romania, Norway, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Spain. "Can't wait," Clinton replied. "You know how much I love making calls."

* One day Clinton showed up for a meeting at the White House only to find it had been canceledand no one had told her. She emailed her aides, "I arrived for the 10:15 mtg and was told there was no mtg. Matt said they had 'released' the time. This is the second time this has happened. What's up??"

* It can be tough to keep track of all the government and diplo-speak gobbledygook. In an April 2009 email to Sullivan about testimony she would deliver to Congress, Clinton asked, "What is the E3+3 vs the P5+1?" She was referring to diplomatic designations for the group of nations negotiating with Iran about its nuclear program. "P5+1" meant the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, China, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom) plus Germany. The "E3+3" meant the three EU members plus the United States, China, and Russia. Sullivan explained, "They are identical, just different names." Clinton followed up: "Why don't we keep using P5+1?" And Sullivan replied, "I'm being toldand still trying to verifythat as of last week, we've succumbed to the Europeans' preferred term. That there was interagency discussion of this, and that going forward, we will join the rest of the world in calling the P5+1 the E3+3."

Clinton wouldn't move on. The thread continued. "What does it mean?" she asked. "What is the E and who are the three?" Sullivan responded, "E is Europe. E3 is UK, France, and Germany. +3 is US, China, Russia. So's it the same 6 as P5+1, just a different name." To which Clinton replied, "I already feel safer." She added, "I feel ashamed that I had to subject you to this."

* Clinton knew the value of spin. In 2009, she was privately pushing for President Barack Obama to nominate Goodwin Liu, a young and rising star in liberal legal circles, to a spot on the US court of appeals in the 9th Circuit. And she was trying to rally support for him among two key players: Greg Craig, who was then the White House counsel, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, where this particular court is based. Her staff was drafting talking points for her conversations with Craig and Feinstein. But there was a small problem. Craig was known to be a liberal-minded attorney, and Feinstein was considered more moderate in her political views. So Clinton's team came up with a solution: two sets of talking points. As Cheryl Mills, a top aide, told the secretary in an email, "The first set is for Sen. Feinstein, which stresses Goodwin's moderate judgmentsshe apparently needs reassurance that Goodwin is not too liberal. The other set is for Greg Craig, which stresses Goodwin's progressive credentials as he likely will find that more appealing." No emails indicated whether Clinton used the right talking points with each. (Of course, on a TV show, an aide would inadvertently switch them.)

* There was always wheeling and dealing under way. When conservative Senate Republicans blocked the nomination of Tom Shannon, who had served in the George W. Bush administration as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, to be US ambassador to Brazil, Clinton tracked the State Department's effort to undo this obstruction. When then-Senator George LeMieux (R-Fla.) lifted the hold, she sent an email to Richard Verma, the State official on the case, and asked, "What took them so long? Did you promise your first born?" Verma replied, "Yes, I sold my soul to George LeMieux today. I am not proud of it." Clinton retorted, "Does this mean you have to go to Cuba and arrest Castro or just shovel more $ into Little Havana?"

* An obscure senator had to be made happy. So, too, a very small country. In 2009, the island-nation of Palau was one of only two countries (the other was Israel) to join with the United States at the United Nations in voting against a resolution calling for an end to the US embargo of Cuba. After the vote, Clinton was forwarded an email indicating that US foreign aid to Palau was being cut. She quickly emailed her top aides: "As I have said repeatedly, I do not want to see Palau shortchanged. I do not know whether this assessment is accurate, so can I pls get an update and recommendation about [how] to take care of this?"

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Hillary Clinton's emails show she's basically Julia Louis ...

According to a new CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary poll, Clinton holds an 8-point edge over Sanders, with 43% behind Clinton and 35% backing Sanders. Vice President Joe Biden clocks in at 8%, with 2% or less supporting Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee.

The poll marks a significant tightening of the contest since the May Granite State Poll, which included Elizabeth Warren on its list of candidates. In that poll, Clinton stood at 51%, with Warren at 20% and Sanders at 13%.

Several shifts in the poll seem to explain much of Sanders' gain. Looking at the demographic breakdown in primary preferences, men, younger voters and liberals appear to have moved broadly toward Sanders in the last month. Among men, 52% backed Clinton in the May survey, that fell to 32% in the new poll, while 47% now support Sanders. Likewise, among liberals, a 51% to 16% Clinton advantage is now a 48% to 41% Sanders edge. And among voters under age 50, Clinton has fallen from majority support to a near even split in the new poll, 37% back Clinton while 39% favor Sanders.

RELATED: Read the entire CNN/WMUR poll results

And likely Democratic primary voters are now more apt to see Sanders as the candidate who "best represents the values of Democrats like yourself." Sanders trounces Clinton, with 41% of Democratic primary voters saying Sanders does, to 30% who chose Clinton. In the May poll, 38% said Clinton was tops on this question, with 22% choosing Warren and just 13% picking Sanders.

Sanders has also gained dramatically in favorability ratings among Democrats since May. In the new poll, 66% say they have a favorable view of the Vermont senator, while just 11% hold an unfavorable view. In May, 45% had a favorable view and 11% held an unfavorable one.

And the Vermont Senator also holds a big edge over Clinton as the most empathetic candidate in the field; 45% say he's the one who cares the most about people like you, compared with 24% who pick Clinton on that score.

Clinton's advantages are apparent in voters' preferences on the issues, however. She is more trusted to handle two of the top domestic issues in the race: The economy (37%, compared with 28% who prefer Sanders' approach) and health care (43% Clinton to 27% Sanders).

And the former secretary of state's advantages are larger on matters of foreign affairs. She holds a wide lead as the more trusted candidate to handle both international trade policy (55% say they trust Clinton compared with Sanders' 14%; Biden is at 11% on that one) and terrorism (45% Clinton to 12% Biden and 11% Sanders).

But when it comes to dealing with "big banks and corporations," things are much tighter: 36% trust Sanders compared to 31% who favor Clinton.

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Poll: Hillary Clinton's lead over Democrats dwindling ...

Today marks an unofficial, official turning point in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Later today, the "ramp up phase" -- a term used by Clinton's campaign to describe the first two months of her candidacy -- will come to an end and her "official" campaign will kick-off. This transition will be marked by the Democratic presidential candidate's first big campaign rally in New York City, where Clinton will deliver a speech laying out her vision for her campaign, followed by a five-day swing through all four early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire.

During her remarks, Clinton will take on a more personal tone during and allude to the story of her later mother, Dorothy Rodham, according to her aides. She will explain how her mothers life story -- which was filled with trauma and abandonment -- has taught her valuable lessons of resilience and motivated her to run for president.

"If you want to understand Hillary Clinton and what has motivated her career of fighting for kids and families, her mother is a big part of the story, Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.

AFP/Getty Images

PHOTO: Workers from Elite Productions work on the preparations for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign launch in Roosevelt Island in New York on June 12, 2015.

Todays public rally will be Clintons largest event yet as a presidential candidate. While her campaign organizers will not say how many people requested tickets to the event, attendance is expected to be in the thousands.

Among those attending will be former president Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea, who are expected to make their first official appearances of the campaign today. It is not known yet whether Clintons 9-month-old granddaughter, Charlotte, will also be there.

Clinton fans will be greeted by some opposition, too. Representatives from the Republican National Committee -- which, according to a spokesperson, has already spent roughly a quarter of a million dollars on its Stop Hillary campaign since she soft-launched her campaign two months ago -- are planning to hand out sunglasses with a not-so-friendly message for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Up until now, Clintons campaign has focused on small, intimate roundtables, as opposed to big rallies, since announcing her campaign with an online video. Clinton has also kept the policy specifics at a minimum and the press at an arms length.

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Hillary Clinton Gets Ready to Make Her Pitch at 1st ...