Hillary, Chelsea Clinton Reach Out to North Carolina Voters

As Hillary Clinton celebrated her victory in the Pennsylvania primary, the people of North Carolina began to hunker down in preparation for the upcoming onslaught as the tightly contested Democratic contest turned south in search of delegates.

Both Democratic candidates realize the significance of winning in North Carolina. The state has the largest number of delegates of the remaining primary states and is also the largest in population of the remaining states.

Political analysts point out that if Senator Obama can win decisively in North Carolina he can end Hillary's claim that she has won all of the big states and all of the "battleground" states.

Both candidates claim to have a chance to win in North Carolina, but some polls show Obama leading by as many as 20 points. The state has a large African-American population (25% of the total) 95% of whom support Obama. Even if one assumes that Obama and Clinton split the support of the liberal wing of the state Democratic Party, Clinton is left with no sizable voter contingent to overcome Obama's solid African-American base.

Analysts agree the state will not be conceded by the Clinton campaign, as evidenced by Bill Clinton's frequent visits, in which he furiously criss-crosses the state in an effort to visit as many cities as possible. Having previously visited the larger cities, the former President spent one week in early April stopping in small to mid-sized towns, many of which would be unknown outside the state. The first week in April, Clinton conducted rallies in Pembroke, Laurinburg and Monroe (smaller towns). The following week he visited Roanoke Rapids, Wilson, Goldsboro, and Kinston -- similarly small towns. It appears that Clinton has decided that Obama's support in the larger cities is too strong to be overcome.

It appears Clinton hopes to gain the additional votes needed by courting the populace of small towns and rural areas of the state. Professional strategists have concluded there is no way Clinton can gain enough votes in rural North Carolina to overcome the high number of votes coming out of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and Wilmington, cities that have over 25% of the state's population.

In spite of the odds, Bill and Hillary Clinton (and Chelsea) have committed themselves to make every attempt to turn the tide and win the state or that failing close the gap in votes to narrow Obama's gained delegate advantage.

During the last week of the month, both candidates have been in the state. Senator Obama has elected to speak before gathering of supportive Democrats and college students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, while Hillary opened this week's tour speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in Jacksonville, North Carolina, the home of Camp Le Juenne Marine Base.

As one who has not committed to either candidate, I was surprised to receive a telephone call over the weekend inviting me to attend a rally and speech by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton which would be held Monday, April 28, in Greensboro. The caller from Clinton campaign headquarters said I had been chosen to attend based on my high-profile standing in the community. (I later learned the campaign was anxious to fill empty seats in the auditorium and was calling people at random to fill them.)

Having been selected as a result of my standing in the community (???) I was shocked. But my ego balloon was quickly deflated when the caller asked which level of attendance would I prefer. My choices were:

Benefactor seating - included a pre-event party and a photo op with Hillary for only $2,300.

Sponsor seating - included attendance at the pre-event party with Hillary for $1,000.

Host seating - included attendance at the pre-event party for $500.

Friend seating - attend the speech for $250.

Supporter seating - attend the speech for $100.

General seating - Attend the meeting for $50.

Limited seating - Attend the meeting for $25.

Being neither a friend or committed supporter of Hillary Clinton I reluctantly paid $25 for a seat. This bought me a seat in the far reaches of the old Carolina theater. Fortunately for me (and other tightwads), the Carolina theater was constructed in the glory days of live theater and grand movies and was designed such that no matter how little one spent for a ticket, there was not a bad seat in the house.

The crowd, estimated at 600 to 700 arrived one hour prior to the noon appearance by Sen. Clinton. The audience was mostly white, mostly female, but represented every age group including tots held in their mother's arms.

Staring about 45 minutes after the scheduled start time, Hillary Clinton was introduced by her national campaign manager, Terry McAuliffe, to a rousing ovation. However, before the senator appeared, Chelsea Clinton appeared and gave a more personal introduction of her mother. Following those moving comments, Hillary entered wearing the usual colorful pants suit, hands waving, and smiling broadly.

Hillary began her comments by saying how good it was to be in North Carolina and how important North Carolina would be in this election, reminding the audience that this was not just an election to select a president, but one "to transform our government." She took this opportunity to once again challenge Sen. Obama to a debate in North Carolina, stating, "the people of North Carolina deserve this." She then stated once again that she would debate in any format, including that used in the first debate between Lincoln-Douglas (no moderator) and that she would debate any place and anywhere, including "on a flatbed truck, if necessary." The audience loved it!

Sen. Clinton opened her remarks with a recap of many of the items from previous stump speeches and debates, calling for the need for universal health care, ending the war in Iraq and touting her experience. Just as the audience was about to cry "here we go again," Hillary introduced a new idea which struck a chord with the North Carolinian audience, saying that as president she would provide relief from record gasoline prices by declaring a holiday from all federal gasoline and diesel taxes, saving motorists 18.4 and 24.4 cents per gallon respectively. She would impose this holiday during the summer peak driving season. "This is a major difference between my opponent (Obama) and myself... as he is on record as opposed to any gas cost relief."

Contrasting her plan with that of Republican John McCain's plan, Clinton stated that she would pay for the gas relief by taxing windfall profits on the big oil companies. McCain she states has no plan to cover the cost of fuel cost relief.

Next, the candidate declared war on the No Child Left Behind Act, stating it had turned our children into "test takers" and our teachers in to "test givers."

"I would completely abolish it," she said.

Continuing on education, she said she would make college affordable for everyone by providing easy-to-obtain college loans without the current red tape and make it possible for those using the loans to repay them through public service rather than living for years in debt. College loans could be obtained by checking off boxes on income tax forms under her plan.

On another note popular in this state, Clinton said she would remove any tax breaks given to corporations that shipped American jobs overseas. This received many cheers and much applause.

The speech ended as a smiling Clinton stated we need to transform our government and that with North Carolina's help, she was up to the task.

Hillary would leave Greensboro for a speech in Charlotte, the state's largest city. Meanwhile her spouse started an 11-city trek across the state.

Sen. Obama was speaking at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and in the small town of Wilson, North Carolina.

Those I saw leaving the speech were enthusiastic and, without exception, agreed that in spite of poll numbers Hillary Clinton was still in the race in North Carolina.