February 16, 2008

10 Things to Know About Hillary's Visit to the Brat Stop

My wife and I headed out to see Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech at the Brat Stop in Kenosha Saturday afternoon. Here's what we saw:

1. What a terrible place for a campaign stop. No offense to the Brat Stop, but it was a lousy venue to hear a politician. '80s hair cover bands? Yes. Hillary Clinton? No. We blame the organizers. We got there 90 minutes early and were ushered to the balcony with no instructions (likely because no one knew what was going on). We made an attempt to get back down to the floor, but were blocked upstairs. The longer we waited, the clearer it became we weren't going to be able to see her - at least not an unobstructed view, anyway. We stuck it out and got to see a bartender realign a closed circuit video camera using her shoelaces and a chair stacked on top of a table. It worked, and Hillary was visible on the bar's TVs. Nice work, bartender! Not a good start, though, and perfectly representative of the planning that went into this stop.

2. All that said, Hillary charmed us. After seeing her talk, I believe her campaign's complaints about unfair negative coverage. She's intelligent, warm, highly qualified, funny (wickedly so, at times), populist and profoundly anti-Bush. In short, she's a remarkably strong candidate. If she would have run four years ago, she would have stomped John Kerry and Bush II. This time she's got a tough primary against Obama, but either candidate will attract massive support.

3. All said, Hillary's speech was stronger than Obama's in Racine this week. She talked specifics, covered a broader range of topics and made stronger points than Obama. My wife put it well: Obama is inspiring, while Hillary comes across as very, very intelligent.

4. Hillary swayed us. We both were big Obama supporters after Wednesday, but now I'm undecided and my wife is leaning toward Hillary. We'd be happy with either of them, but Hillary seems to back up her claim that she'll be ready to run the country on Day 1. I hate to say this about Obama, but really, the last thing we need is another guy in the White House everyone wants to hang out with, but can't actually do the job.

5. I loved how Hillary slammed Bush throughout her speech. For example, she vowed to appoint people to government jobs who are actually competent to do the job. The obvious example was Bush's head of FEMA who had never actually managed an emergency. She also whacked him for No Child Left Behind, saying: "We shouldn't view our children as little test-takers."

6. She was creative. One example she gave was encouraging the development of solar power in the U.S. Germany took a similar approach and created thousands of jobs while cutting the country's dependence on foreign oil. Hillary said she'd like to start a similar program. She also touted tax credits for college tuition (like Obama), but added that she wanted grandparents to pass along college tax credits to their grandchildren.

7. Like Obama, she touted the middle class and vowed to tax the wealthiest 1 percent of the country. "We've had a president for the wealthy, I think it's time to have a president for everyone else." Obama offered a similar line, and both got big cheers from the crowd. The Bush tax cuts went too far, and both Democrats vowed to bring them back into line. "We're going to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class," she said.

8. The national trends seem correct. While Obama drew a younger, more diverse crowd, Hillary drew an older, whiter crowd dominated by women. The question for Tuesday's primary will be whether Obama can turn out the youth and minority vote to overcome Hillary's obvious edge among women voters.

9. Hillary's voice was hoarse, but she rallied the crowd. She was sharper than Obama, making jokes about Dick Cheney shooting his hunting partner and talking about Bush running "scams" on the American people. "You've got to laugh to keep from crying," she said. She also had better swag for the crowd. Everyone got stickers, plus they were handing out bumper stickers and Hillary stuck around to sign autographs and shake hands with dozens of people.

10. Hillary handled the questions from the audience better than Obama. Not only did her answers come naturally, they were heart-felt. When a mother and her daughter explained how they were losing their home, Hillary comforted them and was ready with an answer: She proposed a moratorium on housing foreclosures in response to housing woes across the country. One news source is reporting that Hillary cried at the question. It was definitely an emotional moment. If she shed a tear, she wasn't alone and she came back with a strong answer.

A few more comments:

* The JT is estimating the crowd at 1,400 to 1,500 people. I'm not sure where they pulled that number from (it's unsourced), but I'd put the crowd more in the 1,000 range. It was comparable to Obama's crowd in Racine, without the lines. For Obama, we waited outside for 90 minutes. For Hillary's speech, we waited inside for 90 minutes (after walking right in the door).

* There were no metal detectors at Hillary's visit. Obama made everyone wait outside an extra hour because the Secret Service's detectors broke down. Aside from a few cops walking around, it felt like Hillary had no crowd security. There were definitely Secret Service agents there, but no one checked our coats or bags.

* Aside from the smoke, blocked views and general confusion, the one nice thing about the Brat Stop was having a bar and food available. We ate lunch while we waited and a bunch of people were drinking while waiting for Hillary to show up. That didn't hurt the crowd's spirts.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Dustin. I wish I coulda been there to buy you a drink.

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  2. So can we finally let go of the objectivity tag for you Dustin?

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  3. I had received an email that Hillary Clinton was making a campaign stop 20 minutes from my home on Saturday afternoon. I called my daughter Jeni, and my girlfriends Jeannie and Pam to go with me. Jeni did not want to give up a Saturday, Jeannie doesn't even like Hillary. But they did it for me. So Jeni and Jeannie and I got there at noon and we ate the longest 3-1/2 hour lunch we ever had waiting for Hillary to show up, just so we could have good seat. Pam arrived just before Hillary.

    Then they announced she was here (Hillary, not Pam!) My heart was beating so loudly in my ears. We were only about 12 feet away from her. It was a large restaurant (The Brat Stop) and she was in the middle. I could see just fine. She was wearing a blue dress suit, and honestly...she looked so pretty...much prettier in person than the TV makes her look. Much softer than the personality the press tries to paint of her. She began to speak, and her voice reminded me of myself, when I talk about something I passionately believe in. She stated all her beliefs and her strengths and her desires for our country. Every single thing I wanted, she wanted. She is a huge supporter of teachers and education (also dear to Jeni, who teaches high school math.) She talked about her record in helping the elderly, Medicaid and prescription drugs (a hero to my parents.) She is a huge proponent of making sure everyone has insurance (we almost lost our home, because our insurance company wouldn't cover my daughter Kimber's disease, Rett Syndrome.) Everything she said felt like we were best friends, sitting at the kitchen table, just talking about what every family needs in our country.

    Then the moment came.

    The speech ended. I had printed up signs about my daughter, Kimber, that said: THANK YOU HILLARY, FOR SAVING MY DAUGHTER's LIFE. She began to take questions. I held up my sign and moved around the room to try and get her to see it. She took about 8 questions from the audience, then announced she wanted to take time to meet people. So I started to move closer to her. Two guys, one in front and one behind me, about Jeni's age, literally propelled me towards her in their desire to meet her, too. Then they realized their batteries did not work in their camera. So I volunteered to take their picture and email it to them. We were so close that I could frame them in such a way that Hillary was in the middle. Then I gave one of them my sign to pass on to her. He was right in front and handed it to Hillary, who was doing circles trying to sign autographs for everyone.

    Then she stopped.

    She looked at the sign and asked, "What is this about?" The guy pointed to me and I leaned forward. We were about three feet away. I told her: "A few years ago you fought for funding in Congress, for my daughter's disease, Rett Syndrome." And she nodded and smiled and said, "Yes, I remember." And I told her, "Since then, that research led to them being able to REVERSE the disease in mice. YOU SAVED MY DAUGHTER's LIFE! - and... I Thank You!" Never have I said those words with such meaning. She kept looking at me, and then thanked me for telling her. Then I asked if we could have our picture taken together. She came forward and we stood just inches from each other. I couldn't even pose. We stood there looking right at each other. Our eyes saying what our words could not. I began to cry. I was so thankful, and so grateful and so happy at that moment to see the look in her eyes. It was not a candidate for President, it was one Mother to another, with a chance to share something deeper. I will never forget her eyes. My mother always said, you can tell a person by their eyes. And I knew at that moment, that she was for real. That she does care about everything and yes, everyone, she fights for.

    We both then turned and looked at the camera, and it is the prettiest, happiest picture you will ever see of Hillary, and the worse cry-baby picture you will ever see of me, but I don't care. The important thing is, I have always believed, and now I know for SURE, that she is THE ONE.

    Tuesday, all of us here in Wisconsin, will have a chance to propel her to the White House. Some of you will later on. And I am pleading with you, with everything I have within me, it is something we have to do. She has been bullied and annihilated in the press long enough. I know, without a doubt, from the depths of my heart, that she is the ONLY CANDIDATE that really, truly wants to make a difference in our country. She is also the strongest, one. Look at what everyone has done to her, and she still fights hard for all of us, especially, those like Kimber, who do not have a voice. If she can stand up to Congress, her own peers, she can stand up to other countries. She has earned this privilege. Everyone forgets all the good she has done for our country all these years. Her record far surpasses that of Obama's or McCain's when it comes to defending the middle and lower class...the poor, the elderly, the handicapped. She believes anyone who goes to school to be a teacher, firefighter and police officer (my daughter, my son, my sister) should not have to pay for their tuition. She believes we should all have as good an insurance policy that Congress gets (Kimber would never have been refused care under Hillary.) She places her values on what is important.

    I am asking all of you, please, vote from your heart. She changed Jeannie's mind. She thinks so much of her now, she's voting for her. I think it's probably safe to say, none of you has never met anyone of these candidates personally. I have. None of you has been DIRECTLY affected by the ACTIONS of any one of these candidates. I have. Please, look deep in your heart. If anything will stand out and make you vote for Hillary on Tuesday, or whenever you have the chance...please remember one very important message...without her, Kimber would never of had the chance to live a normal life. Hillary made that happen.

    Please THANK HER, with your vote, next time you get the chance.

    I thank you!

    Sherry

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  4. "I hate to say this about Obama, but really, the last thing we need is another guy in the White House everyone wants to hang out with, but can't actually do the job."

    With regard to this point of yours, why are you voting for Hillary if you think Bill couldn't actually do the job.

    Or are you saying everyone (including you?) wanted to hang out with Bush. That means you should get out more.

    And I'm pretty sure you're saying people don't want to hang with Hillary, but you seemed to have an obstructed view upper deck position in a hot dog store in Kenosha Wisconsin, so apparently you are really bad at finding seats or there were quite a few people who wanted to hang out with Hillary.



    Or are you saying everyone wanted

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