Bill Clinton makes a case for Hillary
Bill Clinton makes a case for Hillary
Bill Clinton won over at least one vote Friday morning in the first stages of a long day's journey into night.
Campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president opened a daylong, seven-city whirlwind tour of North Carolina with stops in Greensboro and High Point.
The message at both stops — and the five that followed in Salisbury, Kannapolis, Gastonia, Hickory and Asheville — was the same: Hillary Clinton is the best choice for fixing an economy in trouble and for restoring America's role as a world leader in diplomacy.
"She is the best change-maker I have personally ever known in my entire life," Clinton said.
The message hit home with Willie Dukes Sr., a Vietnam veteran from High Point.
Dukes, a big man with curly gray hair poking out from under a camouflage Marines cap, leaned on his metal cane throughout Clinton's speech at High Point University's Slane Center. Dukes shook hands with the president, and the two spoke for a few moments while Clinton worked the crowd.
"I changed my mind today," Dukes said. "I was going to vote for (Barack) Obama, but what I heard today made a lot of sense. A lot of sense. She's really got the know-how to run the country."
Others were not convinced.
Ken and Lolita Page of Greensboro broke a sweat during their daily morning workout at the Bryan YMCA on Market Street, then drifted downstairs in their exercise clothes to hear Clinton speak.
"We were just curious," Lolita Page said. "We're not Hillary supporters, but we wanted to see him."
The Pages attended Obama's rally Wednesday at War Memorial Auditorium.
"In a week's time, you get to see a high-profile presidential candidate and a former president," Ken Page said. "That doesn't happen very often in Greensboro. It's history."
History or not, Obama played to a bigger crowd in the Triad.
Obama's rally drew more than 2,000 people. About 250 people attended Clinton's Greensboro visit, and an additional 500 saw him in High Point.
"I do think it's really strange that a very popular former president didn't draw a bigger crowd," said Selma Jackson-Whitaker, 26, of High Point. "But that just meant that I got to be closer."
Jackson-Whitaker said she considers him one of Hillary Clinton's best political assets.
"You don't have to convince people that you're ready for an emergency call at 3 a.m. so much if you can tell them that you can roll over and get advice on it from Bill Clinton," she said.
Many of the High Point students in the crowd said they were too young to take an interest in politics during Clinton's presidency, but they've fallen under the spell of the Clinton charm during Hillary's campaign.
"When you actually see Bill Clinton talk about his wife's campaign, it's actually better than seeing her talk," said Melissa Arbinger, a sophomore at the university. "I thought he made a really strong case that she would be the best president."
Why the big disparity in the Obama and Clinton crowds? It could be because the itinerary for Clinton's visit wasn't confirmed until Thursday afternoon.
Angela Denney, 31, was working out on a Nautilus weight machine upstairs at the YMCA just after 7 a.m. Friday.
"It's pretty laid back, and it ain't too busy in here this time of the morning," said Denney, who comes to the Y three days a week before her shift starts at Quizno's. "I was just wondering what all these people were here for, and then I found out Bill Clinton was here."
Downstairs at the basketball courts that the Clinton campaign rented for the speech, the crowd was small but eager.
UNCG student Libby Lanny, 19, could hardly wait to see Clinton. It's her first chance to vote in a presidential election.
"I'm very excited," she said. "I've been wanting to vote for so many years, and now I finally have a say in what's going on. I'm still just kind of looking around. There's a lot to learn about the candidates, and I want to make the right choice."
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton trails Illinois Sen. Obama in a close race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama has 1,623 delegates to Clinton's 1,499. The first to 2,024 wins.
Ten primaries remain, but only two have more than 100 delegates in play: Pennsylvania (158) on April 22 and North Carolina (115) on May 6.
"I bet you're glad to know that your votes are going to count in this presidential primary and your state's going to matter," Clinton said.
Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com
Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com
Former President Bill Clinton appeared to support Sen. Hillary C
Related Links
- Listen to Bill Clinton's speech (audio)
