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Friday, May 9, 2008

With Clinton on the Ropes

posted by on May 9 at 8:40 AM

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As last night’s Hillary Clinton event was finishing up here in southern Oregon, a familiar face walked by the press area—a friend from college who now travels with the Senator. He looked great for having been in three states in one day, and after a few minutes of catching up he told me to grab my stuff and come with him.

We walked to the back of Olsrud Pavilion, normally the site of livestock sales and farm equipment expos but yesterday evening the site for one of Clinton’s rural Oregon stops as she campaigns toward the state’s May 20 primary.

With the speech over the campaign’s event soundtrack had been turned back on, songs like “American Girl” and “Don’t Stop Believing.” My friend nodded at a Secret Service agent and then the two of us were walking under the risers that had formed Clinton’s backdrop; into a “green room” draped in blue cloth and filled with local law enforcement officers in their dress uniforms, probably waiting for a picture; and past a table holding a New York Post from November 5, 2000 with a note next to it saying “please just sign.” The paper announced Clinton’s victory in her Senate race and Gore’s defeat in the presidential race.

Through a curtain, across a short stretch of concrete, and then, with my friend as my escort, I was suddenly inside the bubble of Secret Service protection that was surrounding Clinton as she worked the rope line. Because of the late hour Clinton had promised the crowd she would answer their questions one on one rather than doing a Q&A, and my friend wanted me to hear what people say to Clinton as she presses the flesh. This is something people don’t see enough, and don’t understand, he was telling me: the intensity of Clinton’s connection with her supporters, the absolute firmness of their conviction that she should go on.

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It was true. Inside the bubble with Clinton, all I heard were older women with misty eyes thanking her, older men telling her to press on with the campaign no matter what, younger men and women saying they couldn’t wait to have her as their president. Clinton would sign things—copies of her book, scraps of paper, campaign signs, a copy of an emailed letter to the editor complaining about Clinton’s treatment in the press—and then she would lean in to answer questions and I would lean in behind her, just a foot or so away, trying to hear the exchange above the cheers and the music.

The first question I heard was from a young man asking about gay marriage (Clinton explained she supports civil unions). There was another question about violent video games, another about health care funding, and then it was mostly gift giving and people pleading with her to stay in the race. She received a sticker to put on her car that would identify her as part of the Holy Ghost Racing Team. She smiled. She was handed packages, letters, a necklace, a CD with a copy of a song an older woman had recorded for Bill. She laughed easily, shook hands warmly, signed everything in sight (except money, not allowed).

“Can I shake hands with you?” a woman asked gently. “God bless you.”

“Thank you for hanging in,” said a young man in a blue shirt. “I hope you win, I really do.”

It’s hard to describe the blast of supportive emotion that was directed at Clinton wherever she turned. We were making our way around a cordoned-off circle that surrounded the stage she’d used for her speech, and she was soaking it up, no longer the self-consciously straight shooting and un-flashy presence she cultivates on stage as a contrast to Obama’s soaring oratory.

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Instead she was at ease, listening…

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…laughing…

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…and signing everything in sight, “Hillary.”

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She didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. I wouldn’t have wanted to leave, either. It was all praise and support and good wishes in the bubble. It was lovely. It was another world.

RSS icon Comments

1

That's beautiful

but still...

DROP OUT ALREADY!!!!!

love,
a former Hillary supporter

Posted by freshnycman | May 9, 2008 8:45 AM
2

I hope, surely, that you're not trying to suggest that Hillary Clinton is an actual human being. That's just ridiculous.

Posted by it's ME | May 9, 2008 8:48 AM
3

I thought you said it was "over"?

But now that she has this "blast of supportive emotion" she should keep going, right? That's amazing - I've never heard of the little people blasting their supportive emotions at a political event... someone should tell Obama it's over.

Posted by hairyson | May 9, 2008 8:49 AM
4

But her bubble has burst. Time for her to drop out. She can still do it with at least some degree of grace.

Posted by heywhatsit | May 9, 2008 8:49 AM
5

It is her good bye tour...she knows it's over and this is her last big campaign.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger | May 9, 2008 8:49 AM
6

This level of emotion is going to increase, even as the size of the crowds shrinks. It's like religious restrictions. The more elaborate and nonsensical a religious observance is, the more committed you have to be to be doing it. But the feeling of doing something without a benefit or logical reason is the point of strictly keeping kosher or whatever it is. The lack of a reason proves how committed you are. It is self-justifying.

So yes, for the remaining Clinton supporters, the only reason this must go on is nothing more or less than "it must go on." But why must it go on? Because it must. That's all there is.

Posted by elenchos | May 9, 2008 8:52 AM
7

I love her. I truly do.

Posted by Mr. Poe | May 9, 2008 8:52 AM
8

That's a nice report. Thanks for conveying how she comes across up close and personal.

Of course, Obama had a similar lovefest appearance yesterday, only his was on the floor of the House of Representatives instead of a rural Oregon livestock auction house.

Posted by Brendan | May 9, 2008 8:53 AM
9

A bubble yes, but one that's losing its air.

A very delusional bubble.

Posted by Homo Will | May 9, 2008 8:58 AM
10

And those people that fawn over her need to be convinced to vote for Obama...mock them all at your own expense.

Posted by patrick | May 9, 2008 9:02 AM
11

People still go apeshit when the Stones come to town, too. I'm sure the outpouring of love is very satisfying and hard to give up. But they're not the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band anymore.

Posted by Smade | May 9, 2008 9:07 AM
12

@10 - True, but when it comes the absolute die-hard Clinton fans that attend rallies like this one, there's really no point in trying to convince them to switch until she actually drops out. Until then, let the mockery continue.

Posted by Hernandez | May 9, 2008 9:15 AM
13

Great post Eli. It's good to be reminded how the feeling of being loved is such a powerful force. And why famous people's emotional states are so mercurial.
When this ends, she knows the depression will kick in; the brutal emptiness will take the place of warm love.

Posted by tim | May 9, 2008 9:17 AM
14

"... and signing everything in sight": DOMA, NAFTA, Iraq War resolution, flag burning amendment...

Posted by DOUG. | May 9, 2008 9:20 AM
15

I think its kinda brutal what she's doing to her supporters. She has lost but is taking them on a farcical ride. She is horrible.

Posted by Jersey | May 9, 2008 9:25 AM
16

Doug@14: Patriot Act, extension/expansion of Patriot Act.... I know I feel so much safer now, don't you? Of course one of WA's female senators also votes a la Hillary. War good. Security-state good.

Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber | May 9, 2008 9:32 AM
17

@15:

One might easily turn your statement on it's head and ponder the "brutality" of what her supporters are doing to her.

She most likely HAS lost - although, it really ain't over until it's over, sayeth Yogi Berra - but I can also see Eli's point that, when you have supporters like these, it makes the decision to drop out, to essentially turn your back on the emotional support they provide, all that much harder.

Posted by COMTE | May 9, 2008 9:37 AM
18

You know, I'm still holding out for experience. I want a president who's truly ready on day one.

That is why I believe Hillary needs to announce her running mate is going to be Monica. With their shared experience we'll be so much safer, jobs will be created, and we won't need "Days of Our Lives" anymore.

Hillary/Monica in 2008!

Posted by Auric | May 9, 2008 9:38 AM
19

Y'all are brutal. Let the woman finish this as she sees fit. It's her campaign.

Nice story Eli.

Posted by Alan | May 9, 2008 9:38 AM
20

It's amazing how different life is outside the Stranger bubble. Great post, Eli. This is the first one in a long time where you've shown true heart.

Posted by fluteprof | May 9, 2008 9:46 AM
21

Too bad... even fringe elements like cults have blind devotion to their spiritual leader.

I'm pretty sure you could have gone down to that Texas David Koresh compound, and found devoted lovers there too...

It's all perspective.

Posted by Reality Check | May 9, 2008 9:46 AM
22

Its not a compound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICf7MaXyKs

just because i like it

Posted by patrick | May 9, 2008 9:51 AM
23

From your description, it sounded more like a farewell party (and rightly so) than what I expect Obama's gatherings to be like. I suspect that one of the reasons it was so emotional is that you have to be emotional to delude yourself into thinking Hillary can still win.

Which isn't to say I wasn't touched, but really, just because she can smile (or cry) for the public doesn't mean she's not a selfish person inside.

Posted by Mr Fuzzy | May 9, 2008 9:52 AM
24

Of course, Obama had a similar lovefest appearance yesterday, only his was on the floor of the House of Representatives instead of a rural Oregon livestock auction house.

He did, how elitist of him!! Here Clinton is shaking the hands of hard-working white American while Obama is yucking it up with his elitist Washington cronies. She's working hard and he's doing a victory lap...such arrogance.

Posted by Ragnar | May 9, 2008 9:54 AM
25

He better fucking win in November.

Posted by Vince | May 9, 2008 10:12 AM
26

I was hoping we could have another president that insulates themselves among their supporters and ignores anyone who disagrees with them.

Posted by DJSauvage | May 9, 2008 10:14 AM
27

Did anyone give her a bottle of Lotrimin?

I heard she has a wicked case of Gardanella Vaginosis.

Posted by ecce homo | May 9, 2008 10:19 AM
28

Daaaaamnn....Hillary looks good for sixty!

For someone not getting much sleep and eating crappy food on the go, she looks amazing.

I'd make a "Picture of Dorian Grey" joke but ECB might hunt me down and kill me.

Posted by michael strangeways | May 9, 2008 10:37 AM
29

It's not the first time a first lady (or her press office) has sought to cast the opinions of those who seek her out as representative of more than that.

From this:

And I don't really believe those polls. I travel around the country, I see people, I see their response to my husband, I see their response to me.
Posted by N | May 9, 2008 10:38 AM
30

Stay in there Hillary! There are still tons of us fighting for YOU!

Posted by BCnOR | May 9, 2008 10:43 AM
31

@23-Just because she's a selfish person with a less than ideal amount of campaign ethics doesn't mean she can't genuinely be touched or feel an emotional connection with her own supporters, or even really be convinced that the ends justify the means and that some of the dirtier moves she made were for the Greater Good. Selfish narcissistic jerks have feelings too.

Posted by Beguine | May 9, 2008 10:47 AM
32

Good story and good pictures, Eli. It's good to see how it looks from the other side. Pretty sweet, actually.

Posted by Ramdu | May 9, 2008 10:50 AM
33

Thanks for this post. It's refreshing to see a different side of this story. While Hillary obviously must attract loyal support from a dedicated following, you would never know it from tracking the major media. According to just about every story we've seen on tube or read recently, Hillary's remaining supporters are all dead-enders and loons. It takes an "alternative" paper like this one to point out that there are some actual human beings with real concerns and viable opinions casting those pro-HRC votes.

This kind of reporting is the Stranger at its best.

Posted by Gurldoggie | May 9, 2008 10:53 AM
34

These supporters better be donating as much as they are able and allowed to help her retire her debt.

Posted by She needs the money | May 9, 2008 10:57 AM
35

It's like a remake of The Last Hurrah.

But without Spencer Tracey.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | May 9, 2008 11:17 AM
36

You know, I'm still hanging on for a Hillary/Monica win in November, but if she doesn't speak to the plight of hard-working white homosexuals soon I may have to switch!

Posted by Auric | May 9, 2008 11:19 AM
37

Yeah those donors better be helping her with her debt, I mean she's only got 109 million left herself.

Posted by Jersey | May 9, 2008 11:22 AM
38

The key word there is "older".

Yup, that's her base.

Posted by Will in Seattle | May 9, 2008 11:28 AM
39

It was actually all a big ruse that proved once again how skillful she's gotten, after three decades of life in politics, at disguising the fact that she's actually one of the evil shape-shifting reptiles who control the US government. (It's true!) She totally fooled you, Eli. I hope you're blushing.

Posted by Jeff Stevens | May 9, 2008 11:45 AM
40

#33: have you taken a look at Hillary's campaign site? Peruse the folks posting on the blog; a scarier bunch you'll likely not find this side of sanity.

Those that aren't borderline for Bush anyway are calling for Hillary to win "because she's a woman".

Oy.

Posted by Oh please | May 11, 2008 5:45 PM

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