Back in the age of dinosaurs, in the early spring of 1992, Hillary Rodham Clinton came to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on behalf of candidate Bill. The rally was held in one of the general aviation hangars at the Eau Claire County airport. There weren't too many of us -- maybe 200 or so. We went because OLGS briefly went to the same high school as Hillary Rodham, although not at the same time. That he is now a fervid supporter of the Hillary for Prexy movement has absolutely nothing to do with this, or so he tells me.
Anyway, we paced around in the back because at the time Joe High School was in his stroller -- pre verbal but quite active. As we stood around listening to her tell us why Bill would be a great president, he began shaking his wooden rattle, which made a lovely clacking noise. He was quite insistent on listening to this lovely sound. Soon, a secret service guy in expensive shoes came over to inform us that Joe was making far too much noise and we should quiet him down. Of course, taking the rattle away only set him off more, and he started to howl and cry. We then gave him back the rattle, which he shook and beat on the edge of the stroller. The SS guy scowled at us.
When she was finished spelling out the virtues of Bill, Hillary worked her way around the hangar, shaking hands and smilling, the good politician's wife. When she got to us, she apologized for the officiousness of the SS guy, cootchy-cooed Joe, and exchanged reminiscences about Downer's Grove North, in suburban Chicago.
It's all about the personal connection, you know. OLGS has been a fan ever since.
Next up: Barak story.
2 comments:
What a great story.
One correction: HRC went to Maine Township H.S. when there was only high school in the district. Soon after her graduation, the district divided into two schools: Maine West (the new school) and Maine East (the old one). Our family (OLGS) lived in the part of the district that fed into Maine East. But the family moved to another suburb and attended schools in the Downers Grove district. While a freshman at Downers Grove North H.S., I (OLGS) was part of a freshman football team that thrashed Maine East 28-0 and also part of a freshman basketball team that beat Maine East by 12 points.
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