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Senator Hillary Clinton has been found this year alongside police officers and firefighters, groups that are now strongly behind her after being skeptical of her candidacy six years ago. NY1's Michael Scotto filed the following report on the transformation of support by these groups. In upstate New York Wednesday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton heard the applause of cheering veterans. Last week, she won the endorsement of law enforcement groups on Long Island. This campaign season, Clinton has managed to win over groups that were not only skeptical of her in 2000, but pushed hard for her Republican opponent, Rick Lazio, to win the race. "I'll be honest with you, six years ago I wasn't too sure about Senator Clinton," said Gary DelaRaba of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association. "I guess the only terminology that best describes her is the highest compliment that you would pay a police officer on the street: she's a worker." Her work, and message, is what helped her win over new supporters. She convinced many in this state that she's not a die-hard liberal, but a centrist who can work across party lines. "I consider myself a problem solver," said Clinton. "I like to figure out what we are going to do to deal with the problems that we have." Those problems include the threat of terrorism and the health of those who worked at the World Trade Center site shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Her work in bringing hundreds of millions of dollars for treatment and monitoring of recovery workers won her the endorsement of firefighters, who shortly after 9/11 booed her at a benefit concert. "Senator Clinton has been there for firefighters," said Uniformed Firefighters Association President, Steve Cassidy. "She's been a great advocate for us, and when we have called her for help, she has been there." Clinton's ability to win over skeptics and critics could prove helpful if she decides to run for president. Across the country there are still many people who do not like her or her views. "I think she has succeeded in occupying the political center, which has been her aspiration from the very start," said Steven Cohen, a professor at Columbia University. "She is very smart person. She is extremely talented and she has worked hard in bringing in these constituencies." Constituencies that could help her build a larger base of support in a national campaign.
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