Live Blog Of Bill Clinton Event In Madison, Wisconsin (February 14, 2008)

Today, Bill Clinton is campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Madison, Wisconsin. He’s scheduled to speak at 2:15 CST. I’ll be live blogging.

1:15: Alright, I’m here and I have my press credentials. He’s speaking at the UW Stock Pavilion. It’s probably worth noting that there are animal feces on the floor (not a lot, but enough to make the place smell a bit and certainly enough to mess up one’s shoes, like mine for instance). This is an especially sour point for me because I was forced to throw out my soda before taking my seat in the press area. Apparently, poop is okay, but Coke Zero is just going to create too much of a mess.

1:30: Apparently, President Truman spoke here during his campaign for reelection. I wonder if it was smelly/messy back then.

1:50: They’re still seating people. An inordinate amount of effort appears to be going into the locations of where people stand/stand.

2:12: And the seating continues. As of now, the venue is approximately half filled with some people on the floor in front of the stage. So, I’d say there are about 1100-1300 people right now.

2:16: “A Change Will Do You Good” is blaring from the speakers.

2:18: And now, they are playing Obama’s entrance music - U2’s “City Of Blinding Lights.” This was certainly not an accident. And this is the kind of lame actions that people criticize the Clintons for.

2:21: Some woman takes the podium. I have no idea who she is (and neither does anyone else in the press area). She talks about tomorrow being Susan B. Anthony’s birthday; then goes on to explain why she is supporting Hllary Clinton.

2:23: The speaker notes that “Hillary represents the kind of change we need to get our country back on track.”

2:26: She criticizes Republicans for cutting financial assistance to energy programs, then goes on to say “you don’t need to be from Wisconsin to know that people need heat” - an ironic statement given that this building isn’t heated and it’s freezing.

2:30: Congresswoman Hilda Solis from California takes the podium.  She begins, “Bienvenidos! That means welcome in Spanish.” Then she starts a chant, “What do we want!?” The crowd, obviously confused, did not respond. So she helps them by exclaiming, “Hillary Clinton!” She goes on, “When do we want it?!” Again, only a few responses from the crowd.  She tries another cycle of the chant, but quickly moves into her speech.  She begins by explaining that she’s campaigning in Wisconsin because she believes in Hillary Clinton.

2:37: Solis makes a reference to the low turnout at Bill Clinton’s earlier event Milwaukee (reportedly only had a few hundred people showed up). She says that there was a right wing radio host, who she didn’t name, that was telling people that the event was canceled or postponed. I should add that the event I am at has about 2,000 people.

2:43: Some annoying girl in the audience keeps inexplicably screaming “Hillary!”

2:44: The crowd roars as Bill Clinton takes the podium.  He begins by talking about how Rep. Solis’ district is comprised of Latinos and African Americans. Someone in the crowd shouts “YEA!,” there’s an awkward pause, Bill says “huh?” and then moves on with his speech.

2:48: Bill talks about the founders and their desire to create a more perfect union. He adds that Hillary believes in their vision, even though, at the time of the founding neither she nor Obama would have been allowed to participate because only white men were allowed.

2:50: He talks about the recession that most people are beginning to feel. Asks the crowd to compare these past 7 years with the 90s. Then, he goes on enumerate some economic problems: 1) growth rates, 2) job rates and 3) types of jobs. Already, this speech has more substance than Obama’s speech in Madison, which took place two nights ago. [To clarify: I'm not saying one is necessarily better than the other, I'm just saying is all]

2:53: Asks the crowd to raise their hand if they know someone without health insurance, then tells everyone to look around.  He states that this question couldn’t even be asked in any other wealthy country around the the world because they all have universal health insurance.

2:55: He launches into a discussion about the context in which this election is taking place. According to Bill, it’s taking place in the context of: the Iraq war, an international community that’s angry with us, climate changes and an economic downturn. After discussing each of those issues a bit (some more than others), he goes on to remind voters that their decision on who to vote for must be made in the context of these issues.  After complimenting the other people who have run for the Democratic nomination this cycle, he suggests a calculus for voters to use when making their decision.

2:59: But first, he responds directly to Obama’s movement of change for change’s sake by arguing that it seems unfair to eliminate someone solely because they were part of the struggle during the 90s.

3:00: Now, his proposed voting calculus: “how would you define success?”  Hillary’s answers this question with three considerations:  (1) She will want the American people to be better off after after she leaves office than when she started; (2) she will want the children and grandchildren of this generation to be better off; and, (3) she will want the United States’ prestige and respect restored in the international community.

3:02: Moving on, he offers a biographical discussion of Hillary.  He begins by referencing her decision to stay at law school an extra year in order to fight for children’s’ rights. He forgot what he wanted to say for a second and says to himself, “I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say.” Then, remembers, and offers some contextual information about the children’s issues that Hillary addressed at that time.  This speech is substantive.

3:06: Next up, he mentions Hillary’s work in the Irish peace process. Notes how when the Irish leaders recently came to Washington to thank Bush for his support, they also requested that Hillary be present.

3:09: Continuing with the ‘Hillary is a doer’ theme, Pres. Clinton talks about a conversation he recently had with a “crusty Republican,” who indicated that he’ll vote for Hillary because she’s the only person that’s ever “done something.”

3:10: Now, he talks about her work against PCBs, for increased health benefits for national guardsman and a few other things. Challenges the audience: ‘you can say that these things don’t mean anything, but they do’

3:11: Changing topics quickly, he talks about Climate change and Hillary’s plans to combat it, while also creating green collar jobs.

3:13: Changing topics now, now it’s health care.  He discusses how universal health care is possible now because businesses and labor unions are joining together to support universal coverage.  He adds, “now if you really think this [universal health care] matters, you only have one choice. There is only one candidate left that really offers universal coverage.”  Tells voters not to believe the ads that they have seen telling them otherwise.

3:15:  He explains the specifics of Hillary’s health care plan; if you want to know, go to her website, because I’m not going to write about it now.

3:17: Aside from talking about the specifics of Hillary’s plan, he offers a broader discussion about insurance, how it functions and why universal coverage is feasible.

3:20: New topic, now he’s on to education. He begins by going through the bullets from Hillary’s website regarding education.  He spends some extra time touting Hillary’s national service program, which offers educational debt relief for individuals that perform community service.

3:23: Talks about the need for reforms in general. He talks about taking the “politics out of science” (big applause for that line), fighting special interests and a few other reforms. Notably, he says, “we’re going to…” as opposed to “Hillary’s going to…” a few times. He adjusted this rhetoric to be more Hillary focused after using “we” a couple of times.

3:24: He offers the reasons why Hillary believes we need to get our troops out of Iraq as quickly as possible: 1) It’s best for Iraq because the greatest likelihood for success there is if they do it themselves and 2) It’s best for the American military - we’re strained now and need to get them out so we can fix our military.

3:30: Adds that if you elect her, she will send a message to the world: “America is back.”

3:31: Concludes: “You need to decide what you want in a president.” Says that there are not many differences between the two on issues, but there are some differences: 1) Only Hillary’s health care plan is universal; 2) Hillary’s plan for dealing with the mortgage crisis is more aggressive (then he starts to wander off into an explanation about this issue…I guess this is a side effect of not having a planned speech; sometimes, the speaker will meander)

3:33: “Finally, let me say, we need your help” - Then goes on to discuss how Hillary’s campaign ran out of money in early January, but people helped out by donating as soon as they found out the campaign was in trouble. Then urges people to volunteer to help, tells them text message the word “join” to 442008.  Concerned that people don’t get it, Bill explains that “it’s electing the 44th president in 2008.” The crowd gets it now. *sigh*

3:36: Ends on an optimistic note by saying that Hillary’s administration will be even better than his was in the 90s. Now, he promises to tell some jokes, since he recognizes that his speech was a bit heavy. This speech is ending like the third Lord of the Rings movie - just when you think it’s over, the screen goes dark, and then a new scene begins.

3:39: As promised, he tells some jokes about the presidency - jokes about music playing when you walk in a room and how you get to live in best public housing.  He says that the presidency is a fleeting time - “poof, it’s gone.” Then, he talks about how if Hillary is elected president, “she will never forget the look in your eye.” (He’s used this line a few times during this speech). I actually have no idea what it means or how it relates to anything.

3:43: He tells another story about a conversation he had with a fireman in New York City. The story isn’t all that interesting, but his inflection is pretty impressive. I fancy myself (and I am) an extraordinary public speaker. There are few people that I will openly admit are better public speakers than me; Bill is definitely one of them.

3:44: And here it is, the closer: “I think it would be a good thing for this country to have the first woman president…but that’s because I was born to a widowed mother.” Then goes on to say that he also thinks it would be a good thing for this country to have the first African American president, and how it’ll be good for this country when we have the first Asian, Jewish, etc.. elected president. Why? “because we shouldn’t be divided by our categories.”

3:47: And we’re done.