Heard President Clinton Speak Today - Third President I've Witnessed Live ...

[inamatteroftime]

He spoke eloquently with precision insight, as expected. A few points I recall from his speech: He briefly covered the periods from when he was in office and what the Republicans inherited compared to what President Obama inherited, detailing reasons for the deficit, looking back to his presidency, using the phrase, "we practiced arithmetic." He spoke of the successes of President Obama during a severe recession and what we can expect if President Obama is re-elected, his focus going forward on jobs, global climate, medical care, and financial relief for college students (so they can stay in school). He said: "otherwise, we are facing a recipe for disaster,” citing America has dropped to 16th place in college graduations.

The crowd was very enthused. The venue was a high school gymnasium, which was filled. President Clinton’s voice was raspy from all the speeches he’s been giving for President Obama; there was a sense of urgency in his voice.

Today marks the third time I have had the privilege of seeing a president speak in person. My father took me to see President Kennedy, was in front of the crowd to see President Obama in 2008 (got to shake his hand), and today President Clinton! I'm older now and it was challenging to stand in line for nearly 3 hours in the cold, but there were friendly people surrounding me and we engaged in conversation about this election and Romney's failed campaign. It was well worth the wait to be in the presence of such a great man and I'm grateful for the experience.

[spooky3]

1. great report - thanks!!

[oldtime dfl_er]

2. How fortunate you are

I also got to see President Kennedy once, when I was a small child he came to my town and I stood out in the rain with a small handmade sign, and his bubbletop limo came by, lights on inside, and he looked right at me and smiled, as the car went by. I'll always cherish that memory!

I've seen Clinton on numerous occasions and he is never anything less than inspiring. Lucid, funny, relaxed, the smartest and quickest guy in the room.

Someday I'll get to see Obama....

[PeaceNikki]

3. I got to see/hear Clinton in June.. it was neat.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=753630

[leveymg]

4. I remember riding on my Dad's shoulders shaking hands with a man with a nice big smile.

It was a campaign rally in New Haven CT. The nice man, I am told, was JFK.

The next President I saw in person was Reagan - I went down to the Inauguration from college with a bus full of demonstrators in January, 1981. After that, it was Clinton. I and my wife danced in the dark on the sidewalk in front of the White House on election night, '92 - Bush, Sr. had turned out the lights.

[condoleeza]

5. Yeah, they're like rock stars+, aren't they?

Met Johnson @ 17, Nixon and Bobby and McCarthy @ 20, Obama in '08. Have very physical memories of what they were wearing and even what I was wearing @ the time. Shook hands with all and hugged Barack at the campaign HQ here. Bobby & Barack had/have a natural charisma that was palpable. Was working @ the Oregonian in '68 when I met Bobby, Nixon & McCarthy. Bobby was supposed to go up to the 3rd floor to Editorial to be interviewed. He stopped @ the 2nd floor, which was mostly accounting/engineering/classified ads and poked his head out and asked "where is everybody", as he'd been deluged on the first floor when he came in.

I was standing at the classified window and said that most of the people were down the hall on the phone taking classified ads - it was a big room - pre computers. He said, well take me down there, and I did, (I was wearing a McCarthy button - which he said distressed him) he walked into the room and everyone in there (wearing headsets) just went nuts. One woman, a Catholic, was closest to him and pretty well went apoplectic when she saw him. He went over to her desk, took her headset (after hugging her) and got on the phone and introduced himself and finished taking her ad. I will never forget these experiences. Johnson meeting was just a passby hand reach, Nixon was bizarre - zero charisma, McCarthy was a bit of a disappointment too. This was just 2 weeks before Bobby was dead.

My sister worked there too and was dating one of the staff photographers. She, very pretty, became the "Ballot Girl" that year and was photographed with Nixon and Bobby, priceless photos. She liked Bobby and also got to meet Teddy at their hotel. Nixon was awkward, he'd been coached about local stuff and when he asked her where she'd gone to college and she said Oregon State - he said "Oh, so you're a Beaver" - and then immediately knew how that sounded and wouldn't make eye contact with her again while they took the pictures.

Ah, memories......

[inamatteroftime]

6. LOL...

that's funny about your sister and Nixon! "Bobby & Barack had/have a natural charisma that was palpable" -- I experienced that with President Obama. I spent 20 years in Hawaii, worked only blocks from his grandparents condo and my son went to his school, Punahou, during the summer session while I worked. We spoke about that briefly. What I liked about him was he looked me in the eyes and really listened to what I had to say - his response was not mechanical but genuine. I found his entire persona, demeanor to be very down to earth and warm, and I like that he smiles with his eyes -- just all over very good Energy!

[condoleeza]

7. Yeah, Barack is just so "human" and real

he wants to make contact with people, he's not thinking about what to say to make you like him, he wants to know what you've been up to and he's grateful and humbled that you actually spent your time working on his behalf. I don't think there was a single person at his HQ he didn't hug, it's just his nature, we are so lucky he even wants this job.