How often can someone say that they attended a rally held by a former president of the United States? I was incredibly upset upon hearing that Bill Clinton was speaking in my hometown of Lafayette earlier last week. I had gone home for Easter last Sunday; if only I had stayed an extra day (and skipped a few classes), I would have been able to witness an extreme important event in Lafayette's history. Worse yet, I was unable to go to the auditorium to hear Chelsea Clinton, either, because of a stupid biology lab. My class schedule was really hindering my ability to become a politically informed voter come May.
Luckily, I got my chance to see former president Clinton today when he made a second trip to Indiana in support of his wife. The only drawback, I had to miss three classes in the process (darn). I went with several of my friends from high school, along with a few people from my floor. We got there around 1:45 and were met with a stagnant line stretching around the building. Apparently, they had not begun letting people in yet. We kinda edged our way into the middle of line as it started to move, but we ended up waiting around 30 minutes before we actually entered Assembly Hall. Surprisingly, there was very little security from what I could see. One of my friends brought her backpack, but noone searched us at all. We weren't even led through a metal detector. I thought this a bit lax for such an important man...
When we got to our seats, we realized that we were seated in the row behind 20 rows of fifth grade elementary school students who came to here Bill Clinton speak. This confused me. Were these kids even born when Bill Clinton was in office? Did they even know who Bill Clinton was? I know when I was that age, I had about the attention span of a flea and would have fallen asleep within the first five minutes of his speech. The kids did enjoy doing "the wave" and yelling out "Go Bill!" at random intervals. This lasted for about two hours due to the fact that Mr. Clinton was pretty late.
When he arrived, Indiana Senator Vi Simpson had us all give Bill Clinton a "happy, hearty, Hoosier welcome!" I know, this sounds a bit corny, but Senator Simpson really got the crowd pumped up and ready for a powerful speech. I never realized just how eloquent and charasmatic President Clinton was while in office. He addressed nearly all of the major issues facing the presidential frontrunners today: no child left behind, alternate energy sources, our failing economy, healthcare, technology... Bill Clinton was so supportive of his wife; he felt that she would make an even better president than he was. (I'm not sure if he was being completely honest.) I really felt inspired to get out and vote next month. Our vote would matter for the first time in 40 years, he said. This really makes me feel awesome. I can actually make a difference in our nation's future!
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