Billary* at Mizzou

With little less than 36 hours notice, Bill Clinton came rolling into Columbia to campaign for his lady. He oddly came to our (fantastic) rec center instead of a more reasonable place like the Mizzou Arena, or even the Hearnes Center. Whatev. I mostly went because, well, it's Bill Clinton. I've always heard of his magnetism and phenomenal public speaking. Also, he was President, and that should count for something.

And he was good. He spoke for a whopping 40 minutes. He started out talking about the Mizzou basketball season, made a comment about Mizzou beating Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, and kept on using "country" cliches like "three bricks shy of a full load" and referred to our state as"Missourah," which, my friend Jenna pointed out, only politicians and 80-year-old men from Mexico, MO, say.

Another funny line came from the dude standing behind us. When Clinton was talking about the economy and Bush's proposed plan for economic stimulus, he was explaining how most of the money went to the top 10%. The guy behind us said "...like you."

He talked about the environment, jobs, health care, the mortgage crisis, automated medical records, preventative care, Iraq, foreign policy, and increasing college scholarships. He made jokes about being politically correct, about being president, and I left liking him.

Later that night I was at a going-away party for my friend John, who is being deployed to Iraq. John's one of the most knowledge-hungry guys my age I know. He's absolutely fabulous. He told me that he's been hearing that Bill campaigning for Hillary has actually been hurting her more than helping (Truthdig article). In the middle of Bill Clinton's speech, a phone rang behind me. The guy picked it up and said, "We're at the Bill Clinton rally..."



*thanks to Ailsa for that.