As Bill Clinton's reputation, in the eyes of Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina and many other Americans, wanes, there are small towns on the campaign trail where a Bill appearance is still a golden event. Wednesday evening before dusk Clinton spoke to 1500 men, women, children, babies and dogs gathered outside The Gatekeeper's Cottage in a local park by the train tracks in Asheboro, North Carolina. There were many interesting aspects to the occasion--the most important being that Bill Clinton, when he wants to take the trouble (he doesn't always anymore), knows how to talk to ordinary folk.
"The dogwoods are keeping me in touch with my roots," Clinton begins. This is the only reference he will make to Arkansas, the only overt connection he will try to suggest between him and them to his audience. He knows what small town people are like. They treasure their particularity. If he had tried to assert what outsiders might observe--that Asheboro is much like small towns in Arkansas--the citizens of Asheboro would have maintained their polite demeanor but thought: Isn't Arkansas kinda Midwest-like? What's their history out there? Don't recollect they did much in the Civil War.
Clinton sticks with the specific and the obviously true. The wild white dogwood, blooming now under the taller North Carolina trees, many of these trees dying from the pollution that drifts down from New York and New Jersey, are lovely. Clinton doesn't mention the pollution. He keeps it positive, evoking only two grace notes: home and spring.
In quick succession, Clinton hits other notes: the military (brief mention of Hillary's appearance with retired Gen. Hugh Shelton near Ft. Bragg), the family and women. Clinton gives his anecdote about daughter Chelsea telling an audience recently that she thinks her mom would make the better President. "Did you ever see women in a family who didn't stick together?" Clinton asks. The crowd chuckles but Clinton's oft-told punchline falls flat. Small-town audiences are water wands for sincerity; Asheboro senses the underlying manipulation.
Despite this mis-step, Bill Clinton connects with his audience because he never resorts to obvious rhetorical devices or rhetorical flights. He never says, as he did in Philadelphia only days before, that if folks support Hillary "it will be like the wind at her back blowing her forward." Such a fancy would be too rich for Asheboro, who likely would've thought, Don't know about that. Seems a bit much. But Clinton knows to keep his remarks more like a conversation than a speech.
For the next hour, he ambles through a series of dinner pail concerns the end point of which always is "she'll [Hillary] get that done for you." Clinton never talks about policy with a capital P. He never frames problems as The Larger Issues Facing the Nation. He keeps it small; he makes it seem Asheboro-specific. Bill Clinton understands his audience: how by evening a decent man's and woman's worries settle in. How can I pay the electric bill come summer? Will the car last another year? That teacher isn't listening to my son.
Slowly, Bill Clinton goes through each of these worries, one by one. He touches briefly on his wife's prescriptions, especially for Asheboro's main worries: the price of food and the price of gas. Clinton says that his wife is working on a tax credit for gasoline used to drive to and from work and school, a tax credit for buying a fuel-efficient car, helping to pay off student loans, better pay for teachers, job re-training, help for single parents, expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act, doing more for Veterans. Clinton assuages Asheboro's fears, if only for an hour, by addressing them simply, calmly, matter-of-factly.
Occasionally, Clinton seems to meander into storytelling. But the Clinton sidetrack is a carefully-crafted element of his performance. He has only an hour here, for he must do two more campaign stops still. With a yarn or two, however, he gives the impression that he has all the time in the world for Asheboro. Likely most of the townsfolk will remember that former President Bill Clinton spent all evening with them, until well after dark.
"I'd keep you here 'til tomorrow morning telling stories," Clinton says as a way of signaling he's about to close. Asheboro laughs, knowing they are going to get one more. "I want to tell you about the lives she's [Hillary] changed," he says. Inwardly, I sigh, for I've heard the story many times before, and it seems so manipulative to me now, although I have to admit that the first time I heard it I was touched.
"Recently I was in Hickory, North Carolina," Clinton says. He's changed the place from Pickering, where the incident seems to have occurred, because a Philadelphia audience laughed at the word Pickering. "The last of six or seven stops." Earlier on the stump in Elon, it was the fifth stop of the day. "I get to the last person [on the rope line], and it's a very nice lady standing there--just grabs me by the arm, starts shaking me, 'Just look at my daughter! Look at my daughter!' Gee, I was scared to death." Asheboro laughs appreciatively. "There was this perfectly normal, smiling, teenage girl. She [the older woman] said, 'This is why I'm for Hillary. I know she's one of the Democrats and Republicans who went to change the adoption laws, all the tax credits. . . . for foster care.' She put her head on her daughter's shoulder. 'Hillary saved my daughter from being trapped in foster care. And saved me from life without my daughter.'"
Every time Bill Clinton tells this story, he expands upon it, exaggerating a little more. For Asheboro, he adds an extra "look at my daughter." He adds "scared to death." But as always he grabs his audience with the tale, and Asheboro responds with an "awwwwwhhhh." Maudlin as a country music ballad, nevertheless, this is just the touch of sweet that otherwise un-sentimental small-town and country folk like. Just a touch. At the end.
Bill Clinton campaigned not in Asheboro but in larger Randolph County, which is actually a very strong Republican county, in 1992. Many in the Gatekeeper's Cottage crowd remember him well from sixteen years ago, even if they cannot recall the origin of the Gatekeeper's Cottage itself. Vernon Simmons, a member of a Gospel quartet, explains his politics: "My dad would kick me out of the family if I didn't vote Democrat. I voted for Bill the first time. He ran this country very well. She's [Hillary] been there and knows how to do it. She's someone who will stand tall, her feet firmly put down. She's kept her feet more firmly planted than he [Obama] has."
There's an almost-charming obliviousness in Asheboro about Hillary Clinton's chances. These are not folks who watch much cable TV news. Just like the lady in Pickering/Hickory, many rush the rope line for a chance to shake the Clinton hand. Virginia Roberts, 86, just wants to kiss him. She remembers kissing him in '92 and wants to tell him so. Although the town EMTs have carried away four elderly Asheboroans already, Mrs. Roberts clambers easily as a goat up the tree root-knotted slope to the cottage. Her fellow citizens make way for her. Clearly, she is the town matriarch, for people have been stopping by her lawn chair all evening to pay their respects. In some ways it's astonishing that places like Asheboro still exist in America; on the other hand, as Election 2008 unfolds, these Asheboros are having their say.
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The Clinton's stop being "regular folks" the day they moved to the Gov. mansion in AK. And if anyone believes after 30 years of living like royalty these two are "regular folks" then the Clinton's are better at brain washing than I thought.
You are the best Clinton apologist in the biz. Do they pay you by the word to write these things? Did "golden event" get you a bonus? In Clintonia, what is a "golden event"? Sounds filthy. I feel dirty just reading your words. I can't imagine how you feel writing them. Your water bill must be incredible - all the scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing - Why won't the hands come clean!
RE: Bill Clinton as a big draw.
Two random samples tell me otherwise. One ,when Bill came to my small city in Pa to speak at a Medium size hall, there was a very very small crowd. When you netted out staff, sycophant machine pols and union guys paid to be there, I'd guess less than a hundred. Second I read about this morning that Bill showed up at a gym for his stump speech to no crowd, so they went to the high school and dragged the kids over to give background for the cameras.
I think the Clinton campaign is supported by a heart lung machine. As soon as they run out of racist states , the plug gets pulled.
"B.A. Vassar '68. M.A. U.C. Berkeley '72.
Worked a bit as a teacher, editor, and writer, but mostly raised my two daughters. Husband a lawyer. Have spent the last few years researching and writing small books on my family history so that our younger generation, scattered from coast to coast, of course, will know "from whence they come."
Hmmmmmm. Sounds like an ELITIST turncoat to me. I wonder if our little Ms. Fowler ever accompanied the Clintons on a trip to the burned out hulks of steel mills and the destroyed towns where people used to have secure dignified work and lives before the Clinton presidencies ignored their plight and pounded the NAFTA nail into their coffins (after making a campaign promise to oppose it). . And, if she did, was the trip one for any purpose OTHER than scoring votes?
Sure, common folk has a history of being called a congenital liar. NY tTimes came out with article regarding Hillary's character. We have such short memories and the Clintons are banking on that. But with supporters leaving, changing sides, you can bet the real Hillary, the consummate liar, married to Bill, is coming thru.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905EFDC1339F93BA35752C0A960958260&scp=5&sq=william+safire+blizzard+of
Noticed yesterday HRCs "suthun belle" Arkie accent has reapeared, while here in Indiana she sounds just like the Chicago girl she really is. Nominate her for an Oscar but deny her the Presidency,"Yall".
Well it is common for many people to 1) either absorb accents swiftly or 2) for people who spent a significant period of time in the South like oh say Arkansas to drift back into their accents when they return to the South.
Cheers!
Sorry, does not wash. HRC would speak with a Lithuanian accent if she might get a vote out of it.
I guess you got kicked off Obama's bus..now you with your girfriend,aren't you.
BTW has Hi-LIARy gotten her southern accent back on the trail. She will need another identity on the stump in NC...I don't know waht she is going to do for Indiana...maybe you can enlighten me since you supposedely went to school together...
You are a disgrace.
Like when Barack Obama has different speech cadences depending on if he's in front of a black crowd or a white crowd.
yawn.
More shots and beers?
Mayhill Fowler - Hillary Clinton's number one KA of the election cycle - you have some brown stuff dribbling on your chin.
"Clinton sticks with the specific and the obviously true. The wild white dogwood, blooming now under the taller North Carolina trees, many of these trees dying from the pollution that drifts down from New York and New Jersey, are lovely. '
About the only time Billy boy tells the truth
I think they're regular, too. A couple of regular hypocrites.
My mother was born and raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC. Once a lady came down from the north in the 1920's and wrote a book about the people down there. They eventually ran her out of town. Good thing she was white, because if she wasn't they probably would have hung her.
Thank you Huff Post for allowing my previous post
Now... now... folks her initials speak for itsef!
Although anatomically impossible.
HAHAHAHA! good one!
Slow clap. Pat yourself on the back. Nay, give each other ass pats.
Yeah, when she was working for the Goldwater campaign she was regular folk. And when Bill was a non-bathing, non-shaving, draft dodging weasel hiding out in London, he was just regular folk. These two miscreants have played the public like a violin for decades. Then, when these regular folks got their chance- she went nuts and tried to create a health care system- on her own and behind closed doors, and he was chasing the intern. C'mon Indiana--- you are better than this, North Carolina, you are better than them.
Ok wait a minute, I'm new to this site but isn't this the person who was supposedly an Obama supporter but had issue with the word bitter?...LOL Well I guess I should thank her because I found this site because of her. When I heard about her blog I did come here to read it instead of relying on talking heads to inform me, it was obvious she was never an Obama supporter. Did she ever release the entire recording from that dinner or did she only press record when she heard the bitter comment. Oh well this is America.
Oh the perfect family outing minus Gennifer and Monica. OK that was mean I admit it but give me a break.
You do learn fast...and welcome to these boards! Ms. Fowler is a pretender, a fair-and-balanced kinda gal.
"Small-town audiences are water wands for sincerity"..... that's a bunch of crap. Once upon a time I thought that too. Bill and Hillary Clinton don't believe that horseshit either. The uneducated and ill informed and their conservative values are what's driving them to vote for McCain and Hillary Clinton. These people don't have a freakin clue about what's going on. We saw that in PA.
Just regular 100 million dollar folk who live in rural NY. The hardships they must face.
Like overly paid Michelle and Barack Obama and their Hyde Park address.
Nice story about "the other America", and necessary to tell to unite the Democratic party, in particular if Obama wins the nomination
You didn't mention anything about what President Clinton was wearing, as you did in your story about Mrs. Obama stumping for her husband in PA.
Was he wearing a good color for him?
You wrote: "Small-town audiences are water wands for sincerity"..... I completely disagree with this statement as PA shows us, very well, that small town, rural folk are quite easily manipulated by faux sincerity, otherwise Hillary Clinton would have never won that primary.
The Clintons are as polished manipulating team as I have ever witnessed.
Please, Americans who are yet to vote in coming primaries......... stop them.
Michelle gets the same crap that Hillary did/does. But, it's cruel when it to happen to Michelle not when it happened to Hillary, just as it was cruel to have Barack's history evaluated but totally germane to have Hillary's.
I see; I see...
It's a crafty bit of seduction, I'll grant. But what's wrong with her supporting Clinton? She isn't purporting to be a friend of Obama.
in the past she tried to get people believe she was an Obama supporter. No one believes her.
We should not respond to her BLOG...she did the hit on BO and we are wgere we are today....she would have been about five points over in PA which was where it should be but her so called journalism opened up wounds that need not be there...the msm ran with the disecting of the story!!!!! BOYCOTT HER!!!! SHE IS A TRAITOR!!!! SHE THINKS TRYING TO WRITE BLOGS ABOUT THE CLINTONS NOW SOMEHOW WILL MAKE US FEEL BETTER AND FORGIVE HER!!!!!!LET HER KNOW HOW WE FEEL!!!!
I agree. This person could cost us the best potential President and she still wants to profit from this election?
I couldn't agree more. Plus anybody who describes herself in her own bio as "overeducated" because she has a Masters degree should be ignored. And I say that as someone with a Masters degree.
MAYHILL FOWLER must be doing something right to jangle both camps delicate nerves. First the OBAMA folks and that 'bitter' remark coverage and now, opposite trail, CLINTON SPEAK. I got to believe FOWLER'S unappreaciators, detractors, don't read much from writers who build their characters human. Inside and out. So you care about them though you don't agree with their actions, subtrefuge, deceipt, desperation, ignorance, simple maybe short sided plain talk, or downright villainy. I'm not implying this fits these rural folks or the CLINTONS but Fowler can do this, deliver earthbound high order intelligent human spirits, fleshout real people. Bring profiles alive due respect paid singular behaviours, and enculturation. She, lays down the wash, nuance, colors. Paints the CLINTONS and the folks of this, insular, small town, this sort of inbred locale. Snapshots the tenor of the scene framing an acceptable interpretation it seems to me. Of folks don't take to high falutin or flowery stuff. Who see thru that. Maybe even will vote against their best interest, but that doesn't mean they dont sense bullshit from slickers. And that on the otherhand slickers are wary, got to watch how they deliver a pat stump address. What an OBJECTIVE eye MAYHILL FOWLER has. Okay, subjective too. Mixes it up. Sharp center focus but also periphery. She is an extraordinary addition and refreshing Huffington Post presence.
oh yeah, just folks like us!
yup, the royal family of Saudi Arabia gave me $10M too so I can build a library in my honor.
And in the last 10 years, I've earned over $100M, mostly from speeches I give around the country. aw, shucks. the people just love me.
Give me a break!
Don't write about how they supported NAFTA, how she voted for the war without even reading the NIE report, how she voted AGAINST the banning of cluster bombs, how she voted for Kyle-Lieberman and now how she - if president - would nuke Iran if they threaten anyone in the ME, including Saudi Arabia - guess that $10M bought them something!
Ain't this article just all peaches and creams....the clintons work the crowd and manipulate voters as well as any GOP canidate! Don't confuse them with facts or issues...just be plain folks with charm and a flair for being dishonest and deceptive...old time southern charm...Bless their hearts!
Please boycott this writer. Pleae let this be the last comment post for this hit woman. Thanks !!!!
Exactly TheKnownTruth!
Get lost Mayhill. You've done enough damage. That old time southern charm is a bunch of crap; none of it is sincere. That southern faux sweetness is deadly.
Give me a NYC neighborhood anyday where the people are real and what you see is what you get.
Posted April 25, 2008 | 09:42 AM (EST)