HARTFORD -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., on a campaign stop in Connecticut, offered her own state-of-the-union speech Monday, hours before President Bush was to address Congress for the final time.

She said Bush has made it harder for most Americans to better themselves, reducing their buying power by about $1,000 over his seven years in office, as he's given massive tax cuts to the nation's wealthiest.

"I assume all of you know tonight is a red-letter night in American history," she said, her voice nearly drowned out by a rising ovation. "It is the last time George Bush will make a State of the Union message."

Clinton, speaking before more than 1,000 enthusiastic supporters in a middle school gymnasium, said Bush has drastically diminished America's standing in the world, while allowing cronies to run roughshod over a domestic economy that's teetering on the brink of a possible recession.

"I believe that an investment manager on Wall Street making $50 million a year should not pay a lower percentage in taxes than a teacher in Hartford making $50,000 a year," Clinton said. "I believe anyone who wants to move a job from Connecticut overseas should not get one penny of taxpayer help to do it."

It's an America where the No Child Left Behind Act has hurt public education and the poorly planned war in Iraq is dramatically draining America's military, she said, predicting the Middle East neighbors of Iraq won't assist that country until next year.

"They're not going to do anything to help us until President Bush is gone," Clinton told a crowd of party activists and high school and university students who were allowed in the gym on a first-come basis. "I believe that the rest of the world is holding its breath, waiting for a new day."

Clinton, campaigning in advance of the state's Feb. 5 Democratic primary, pledged to work for better health-care coverage, more medical programs for war veterans, universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds, more efficient automobiles, and a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures so owners can get out of adjustable-rate mortgages and refinance.

The 60-year-old Clinton offered her vision for the White House during a 27-minute speech at the Hartford Magnet Middle School, then took seven questions in a town-hall-meeting format for another 23 minutes. She then greeted well wishers for nearly a half hour while the public address system played '70s-era rock 'n' roll.

Clinton spoke 26 minutes before she said "change," the apparent one-word theme of every presidential candidate's 2008 campaign.

She challenged her supporters to work for a new energy policy, including renewables and stepped-up conservation measures. She blasted Bush for borrowing money from China to buy oil from Saudi Arabia.

"A lot of the problems we face are not Republican or Democratic," she said. "We have to repair all the relationships that have been damaged by President Bush."

That's why she wants to bring "one or two" brigades back from Iraq as soon as possible. "We will have a new 21st-century GI Bill so that these young men and women who are fighting can go to college," she said.

"If you will stand with me, if you here in Connecticut will support me on Feb. 5, I promise you that I will get up every single day and wage a winning campaign against whomever the Republicans nominate," Clinton said.

"I was thinking the other day: wouldn't it be nice that they just announced they were embarrassed about what had happened to the country and they weren't going to run?" she said, smiling.

"Somehow I think that's not going to happen."

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Ken Dixon, who covers the Capitol, can be reached at Kdixon@ctpost.com or (860) 549-4670.