Sunday, June 25, 2006

Meeting Bill Clinton: Two Views

Factesque points to a note on another blog wherein someone writes about meeting Bill Clinton. The political aspects aside, here is one paragraph that caught my eye:

Some of the details of his response to my question are debatable, certainly, but what I found so impressive was that he didn’t talk down to me. He talked to me as if I were his equal—a lot of very unimpressive local politicians don’t even treat people like that. He made eye contact and made sure he understood where I was coming from, and he really answered my question. All that stuff about how he makes you feel like you’re the only one in the room—I get it now. Maybe it’s genuine, or maybe it’s manipulation. Either way, that dude’s good.


I saw Bill Clinton once myself. It was his first presidential campaign. There was a note in the paper that Clinton was going to be at a rally downtown and it was scheduled for a time that I had free so I went. This was August. It was hot and, as always happens, things were running behind. The area was packed and people were starting to get antsy and, to be honest, starting to smell, too. Finally Clinton arrived. I don't remember anything he said. It was a long time ago, but I do remember he was a good speaker and good at connecting with the crowd. After the rally was over he left and the crowd started to disperse. I waited around before heading home to avoid getting caught in the rush. As it turns out Clinton had left the rally but stopped along the way to talk with people. I was standing in front of the building when he came out. All the people still there lined up along the street and he walked up one side and down the other, shaking hands with everyone. We were only one or two deep so it was a fairly easy, though time consuming and sweaty, thing to do. The security personnel with him were clearly nervous about this but he ignored them. I was impressed that he would take the time to do that. Usually national candidates just wave to the crowd, get in the car, and take off. He clearly enjoyed the contact with people (no jokes please) and he definitely has charisma. It's the only time I've met a presidential candidate and the memory stayed with me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was that the rally behind Indepence Hall? If so, I was there, too! I nearly got to shake hands, but as he came down from the stage, he turned left instead of right.

eRobin said...

Jeez, the one time Clinton turns left instead of right!

I'd love to have had Clinton for a professor. (I wouldn't want my daughter in his class though.) I bet he'd be great. As a president, not at all.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, after all what did Clinton do except give the country 8 years of peace, prosperity, an increase in real wages, a budget surplus, a commitment to the environment and other policies that generally moved the country forward. Who'd want that?

eRobin said...

His other policies - specifically the ones mentioned by Rolland in the post I cite - generally moved the country into the clutches of the radical Right by refusing to acknowledge that cooperating with extremists is not a good thing to do.

Clinton only looks as good as he does in comparison to the lunatics we have in place now.

(Plus he opened the door for all the crazy talk about Social Security being in desperate straits and he was bad on Haiti. Again, not as bad as Team BushCo ...)

Anonymous said...

On balance, Clinton moved the country forward. No one can perfectly predict the outcome or unintended consequences of laws passed on their watch. I have not a doubt everything Clinton did was with the sincere belief that it was the best option at the time. I would never fault anyone for gathering facts, holding open discussions, getting different points of view and then making a decision. No one disputes this was how Clinton made decisions.

I'm astounded by your closing comment that seems to imply Bush is only slightly worse than Clinton.
These two men and their presidencies could hardly be more opposite.

Anonymous said...

So you admit that you would have willingly been an intern for him?????

AboveAvgJane said...

Phillydem,

Sorry, I thought I replied. Yes, it was the Independence Hall rally. Now wonder you sounded so familiar. ;)

Anonymous said...

I was at his first inauguration, too.
I took the 0545 Clocker train and had to stand the whole way from 30th St to DC. That was a blast. I've never had a such a feeling of optimism and everyone else there was so nice, fun, friendly and helpful. It was a great day!