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Former President Clinton’s rally attracts crowd |
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Friday, 16 May 2008 |
 Former President Bill Clinton speaks in Varsity Gym outlining six reasons North Carolinians should support Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Photo by Derek DeSha
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by BRANDON BROWN
News Reporter
In light of the upcoming May 6 North Carolina primary, former President Bill Clinton drew a sizable crowd in Varsity Gym Tuesday, as he delivered a stump speech for his wife’s Democratic nomination bid.
Some students waited over an hour before being let in the gym. The crowd was divided into two separate lines that stretched beyond Sanford Hall and down River Street toward Raley Hall.
A
press release from the campaign cited the rally to begin at 3:15 p.m.,
but President Clinton didn’t take the podium until after 4:00 p.m.
President Clinton outlined six reasons why North Carolinians should support Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
The former president said Clinton would create new jobs in sustainable
development, would solve the home mortgage crisis, has a health care
plan that offers blanket coverage, has the best education plan, has a
favorable stance on taxes and budget management and is best suited to
be Commander-In-Chief.
Students supporting both Democratic camps were on hand to witness the
former president. But many students from both blocs said the economy
was the biggest issue for them and is something they wanted to hear
President Clinton mention.
“I would like for him to talk about… the economy and [perhaps] talk
about what happened in the 90’s with the recession then and what’s
happening now,” graduate student Elizabeth A. Salter said before the speech.
 Students line up to hear former President Bill Clinton speak in Varsity Gym. Photo by Derek DeSha
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Morgan J. Stewart, a freshman theatre art major said the economy is of chief concern to him as well.
“[The economy is] not that much fun to talk about because you actually have to come up with solutions,” said Stewart.
During his speech, Clinton said the economy is “in the tank” because of
energy prices, heath care costs, the home mortgage crisis and a lack of
jobs created by the current administration.
“America only works when it looks like you do today – where we go
forward together across every racial, and every regional, and every
religious, and ever gender, and every age line,” Clinton said.
“We’ve got to do this together. This country needs to be a country of shared prosperity again…”
Clinton said his wife plans to create 5 million new jobs “by making a
serious commitment to energy independence through home-grown, clean
energy and energy efficiency.”
Stewart said he is a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) but couldn’t pass up the chance to see President Clinton.
“I’m still excited to see him,” Stewart said. “He’s the ex-president.
I’ve never actually gotten to see any president before, so it’s pretty
cool.”
 Crowds wait for over an hour before entering Varsity Gym. Photo by Derek DeSha
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Clinton often referred to his own presidency when discussing the subject of budget balancing and economic status.
“…We have been governed for the last seven years by an administration
that had no jobs policy and got rid of the balance budgets and surplus
I left you with,”
Clinton said. “No matter how liberal you may think you are, in the
modern world, you cannot be a social progressive unless you are a
fiscal conservative.”
The former president spoke for over 45 minutes, which was often segmented by the crowd’s applause.
President Clinton ended with: “If North Carolina will say yes to her,
not only will you be better off, not only will you always be proud you
did, she will win the nomination and be the next president.”
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