Connecticut Local Politics

It was, for an event that had been announced on Saturday and finalized on Sunday, a much bigger deal than anyone thought it would be. Hillary Clinton came to Springfield College on Monday (see pictures here), and it seemed that most of Western Mass. descended on the college to try (that’s the operative word) to hear her speak.

My colleagues and I decided to head over to the arena two hours before the speech was scheduled to start, and found a line already snaking down the hall. Once we entered the arena, it became painfully clear that this event was going to be much, much larger than planned. Originally, only about half the court had seats planted on it, and only a small section of the bleachers had been extended out from the wall. But soon after our arrival, a much larger section of bleachers behind us was extended (not all the bleachers could be used due to the media setup area) and a huge standing-room only section opened up. Clearly the organizers of the event were expecting a much smaller crowd.

But people came in droves. Presidential candidates don’t come here. They just… don’t. People were incredibly fired up that finally, someone was paying attention to us, and they showed up for what they felt would be their only chance to see the 2008 campaign in person. Buses disgorged hundreds of people, parking on campus was crammed, and even students from a city high school came to fill in a big section of bleachers. By the end, the Springfield Republican estimated that about 3,000 people made it into Blake Arena–with about 2,000 more stuck outside.

There were a lot of hard feelings among the crowd that got left out in the cold. Heather Brandon at Urban Compass was one of the people who couldn’t gain entry, and she writes about the frustration and anger of the people who lined up down the street and past the library. A lot of that anger was justified: the Clinton campaign originally had urged people to register for the event–which people did, believing that registration would get them in. Unfortunately, registration was abandoned on Monday and the event changed to first-come, first-serve. Go see the article on Urban Compass, which also reports that the venue was kept small on purpose to preserve a feeling of “intimacy.” I doubt that will make the people turned away feel better.

Bush, Health Care, Student Loans and the Economy

Hillary arrived almost an hour late due to a longer question-and-answer period than was planned in Hartford (there was no Q&A in Springfield, alas). When she arrived, the hot and tired crowd greeted her with enthusiastic cheering and sign-waving. Local congressman Richard Neal introduced Sen. Clinton, who then spoke for about 40 minutes. In what may be her biggest applause line of the night, she started off by pointing out that tonight was George Bush’s very last State of the Union address. The crowd was clearly pleased about that. In fact, the parts about changing direction from the past seven years were the strongest part of the speech, and drew the best reaction from the crowd. For example, Clinton claimed that she spent a lot of time during the early years of the Bush administration “yelling at my TV set,” and then listed a litany of the administration’s faults–ending with “And then the vice president shot that guy in the face,” which drew laughter.

She also led the audience down memory lane by painting a rosy picture of the 1990s, for which she seemed to be taking a lot of credit. I momentarily wondered just which Clinton was running, here.

She then talked about her plans for the future, should she be elected. She pledged to institute a “fair tax code, not tilted to the wealthy and well-connected,” and promised not to give tax breaks to companies relocating jobs out of the country. To help boost the economy, she promised more high-speed internet access, and more support for small business. She also promised a form of universal health care which would expand the current Congressional program, and offer people and businesses hundreds of choices. “Health care,” she told the audience, “is a moral right, not a privilege.”

The crowd, whose enthusiasm had flagged slightly from the start of the speech, perked up when Clinton addressed student loans. Clinton promised to make college “more affordable,” to expand education tax credits and reward national service with even more tax credits for education. She also promised to take on the student loan industry, which drew heartfelt applause.

She addressed energy concerns, and pledged to explore alternative sources of energy and end our dependence on foreign oil. To do that, she said, “the two oil men in the White House” had to go, first. More applause.

She then turned to Iraq, first saying she’d call for Americans, should she be elected, to travel all over the world with the message that “cowboy diplomacy is over,” which got a good reaction from the crowd. She promised to bring the troops home “as soon and as responsibly as possible.” In what may have been the only swipe at other Democrats in the race, she said that while some others wanted to bring them home on day one, it simply wasn’t possible, and it would be dangerous to try.

The speech ended with her call to bring change, presumably by voting for her. She presented herself as a candidate of change, but a candidate of experience (interesting). She also portrayed herself as the candidate best equipped to take on the GOP, saying “I have taken a lot of fire from the Republican attack machine… I’m still standing.”

It was a relatively standard stump speech, notable for the lack of any sort of attacks on her Democratic rivals. She seemed to lose the crowd a bit when she launched into her plans for her presidency, but got them back at the end with her focus on Iraq and more bashing of Bush. She seemed to want to have things both ways–she was the candidate of the golden age of the 1990s, but also the candidate of change and the future. Women in the audience, especially young women, seemed to respond to her best, and that was evident when she promised to bring her experiences as a wife and mother into the White House. I heard a lot of young women making calls on their cell phones, saying that they were witnessing history.

And maybe they were. Clinton is presumed to be on course to win both Connecticut and Massachusetts. If she can put up some big numbers here next Tuesday, her stops in Hartford and Springfield could be seen as a successful part of her march to the nomination.

Notes:
#1: My beautiful, talented and thoughtful wife took the notes I used to write this piece.
#2: Disclaimer–Springfield College also happens to be my employer. Obviously what I write here doesn’t represent their views or the college in any way.