My Evening with Bill

Last night, my Other Half and I went to hear Bill Clinton speak at a theatre in town. We got an invitation over the email. There were various prices of entry (this was a fund raiser, after all for Hillary). At first, we were going to opt for the student price, because we both happen to be students.

However, my Other Half decided that students would probably be stuck in the nosebleed seats. Instead, he opted for the pricier seats that would be closer to the stage.

How true he was. It was general seating, with a few exceptions. We were allowed to sit in the first 20 rows (but not in the first 3 rows). Others who paid less than we did had to sit 20 rows back. We ended up being near the center of the 7th row. Not bad at all.

I find that I'm not a political "groupie". Other folks were acting like the Beatles had just walked on stage. They were taking photos with their phones (and sometimes even real cameras). They clapped every time someone said Hillary Clinton. There were "opening acts" to this political rally as well. At one point, someone wanted us to chant "Hillary is our Hope." That didn't set well with me.

I really liked hearing President Clinton speak. I think it would have been even better to hear him not campaigning. I think he has good ideas and he can express himself very well. The problem was that he would start out with a great observation of what we need as a country right now, but then he would move right into a comment like, "Hillary is the best one for the job."

I did appreciate that he didn't slam the other candidates. He also gave some good practical reasons for making her the Democratic nominee. He pointed out that she has been slammed by the right-wing machine for 16 years now. She knows how to handle it. He recalled John Kerry being nominated in 2004. We thought he had a good chance, especially since he was a veteran. But somehow Swift Boat and others found a way to turn that into a liability. She would be experienced enough to know it was coming and prepare for it.

I'm still not sure if I am throwing my support behind Hillary. I really would like to take a look at the other candidates closely. I've discovered, sadly, that the candidates that best represent my values are often the candidates that are the least likely to be elected. If we looked at things purely from my opinions (which you can do here, by the way), I'm a Dennis Kucinich guy. But no one will ever take him seriously.

It makes me wonder what would happen if we all voted along our ideas, not along spin. Our country would look very different, I believe.