Hillary Clinton stirred a crowd at Millersville University into a near-frenzy Tuesday night when she promised to scrap the federal No Child Left Behind Act if she's elected president this November.

"I know we can do better than that," she said. "I know we can have a better partnership between our president and our teachers and our families and our communities. I do not think we get the best educational outcomes by turning our children into little test-takers."

Clinton, the junior senator from New York and former first lady, swung through Lancaster County on Tuesday, holding a sometimes raucous rally in MU's packed Pucillo Gymnasium, which can hold about 3,500 people.

While at Millersville, a noted teachers' college, she pushed for investing money in pre-kindergarten programs and measures to ease the burden of student loans for college students.

No Child Left Behind is an initiative of President Bush's that requires schools to meet standards measured by a series of student tests.

Clinton is locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Pennsylvania is the next major primary, with voters casting ballots April 22.

During a one-on-one interview with the Intelligencer Journal after her 40-minute speech, Clinton talked about Iraq, Democratic superdelegates and other ongoing campaign issues.

Concerning Iraq, Clinton has said she will withdraw U.S. troops within 60 days of taking office if she is elected president. She said, however, that pulling out troops may not stabilize that country.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," she said during the interview. "I am sure keeping our troops there, giving the Iraqi government a blank check and a crutch so they don't have to make the tough decisions they must make is not the answer. We do not have a military solution that will enable us to impose stability on the Iraqis, and I think our young men and women have done everything they've been asked to do."

Sean Smith, a spokesman for Obama contacted Tuesday night, said that was something Clinton should have considered when she backed the 2002 congressional resolution that sparked the war.

"It's too bad she didn't ask herself these questions when she cheered on George Bush and John McCain, who took us into this war," she said. "Sen. Obama was opposed to the Iraq war from the very beginning and predicted this is exactly the kind of chaos we would face."

There's been much speculation in the Democratic race about the possibility of Clinton securing the nomination through superdelegates, even if Obama has more pledged delegates and leads in the popular vote amassed during the primaries (he's currently ahead in both).

Superdelegates are party officials, like governors or state party chairmen, who can cast votes independent of primaries.

Clinton or Obama need 2,024 delegates to secure the nomination.

Clinton said superdelegates like Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter, should choose between Obama and Clinton independent of how their constituencies voted.

"Superdelegates should exercise their independent judgment," she said. "That's why they have a role, and they should be looking at all the various factors as, one, who would be the best president, and two, who's our best nominee to win.

"The idea (of superdelegates) is a wise one because you want different perspectives coming together to make the determination."

Smith said if a majority of Democratic voters have chosen Obama, he should be the nominee.

"Senator Obama believes strongly that the will of the voters should not be overturned by the superdelegates," he said. "The candidate who has the most pledged delegates when all these contests are done deserves to be the nominee of our party."

Clinton aimed much of her speech at MU at middle-class voters, saying they've been ignored by the Bush administration, which she said has been protecting the interests of the wealthiest Americans.

"The economy has been stalled," she said. "It's not creating new jobs. Last month, we lost 63,000 jobs in America. We don't have a strategy to start creating jobs and making sure prosperity is shared. That should be our goal — shared prosperity, not unequal wealth, which is what we've had the last seven years."

She talked about creating jobs by investing millions in new energy development, rebuilding America's infrastructure and ending "George Bush's war on science," which also drew loud applause.

Clinton trumpeted her universal health care plan, too, saying Obama's plan goes "only halfway" toward providing health care for everyone.

She also advocated ending the "stigma on mental health" by including coverage in her plan, and said she wants to make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition.

"In America, it's unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of race or gender or religion or ethnic origin, but it's OK for insurance companies to discriminate based on sickness," Clinton said. "And we're going to end that."

Audience members, a mix of students, middle-aged parents and seniors, began lining up outside the gymnasium at least five hours before Clinton took the stage.

Sandy Brubaker, 52, a nurse who lives in Millersville, said she's supporting Clinton because of her universal health care plan and her experience.

"This nation is in the worst shape it's ever been in my lifetime," Brubaker said. "Experience matters with how messed up this country is today."

Earlier in the afternoon, Clinton taped an MTV show called "Choose or Lose" at Lancaster Brewing Co., talking to eight Iraq War veterans about her plans to end the ongoing conflict.

She also picked up the endorsement of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a prominent Democrat from western Pennsylvania.

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com