President's Day: Bill Clinton makes campaign stop in Corydon for Hillary

By TARA HETTINGER
Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com

April 15, 2008 10:05 am

— Mark Black, principal of Corydon Central Junior High School, was not prepared for the call he got Sunday morning from Superintendent Neyland Clark, who said former President Bill Clinton was coming to his school.
“I thought he was joking,” Black said. “I about hung up on him and he said, ‘No, seriously!’”
The students were just as shocked when they saw the 42nd leader of the United States on Monday.
“People said Bill Clinton was coming and I thought everyone was just lying,” said Josey Kintner, 18, who attends Corydon Central High School. “I would’ve never dreamed he would come to our school.”
Kintner, along with most of the students, found out when they got to school Monday morning that Clinton would be stopping by, on the campaign trail for his wife and presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
“I heard something was going on in the gym and when I found out what it was I was like, ‘Wow.’” said Glenn Gruny, 18, who stood the whole time as Clinton spoke. “I called my mom to get me a camera.”
All of the high school’s juniors and seniors attended, along with some sophomores and the Honor Society members from the junior high school. The rest of the about 1,100 people who packed inside the gymnasium were community members.
Indiana’s former first lady, Judy O’Bannon, took the microphone on the makeshift stage in the front of the gym with Clinton by her side. She told the standing audience about the history of Corydon, her life as a governor’s wife and why Clinton was so good for Indiana. She then proclaimed her support for Hillary Clinton before handing the microphone over to Bill.
Once Bill started speaking, the cell phones, cameras and video cameras all came out as audience members tried to capture the moment.
He talked for about an hour on what he called the four main problems that face the nation today: energy costs, health-care costs, the home-mortgage foreclosure crisis and policies implemented by George W. Bush’s administration, including tax breaks for the wealthy.
The audience listened intently the whole time as Secret Service members, each wearing a suit and an ear piece, watched from all sides of the room.
Clinton also talked about Hillary and Indiana’s power come May 6.
“I believe if she wins the Indiana primary, she will become president,” he said, causing the audience to roar with cheering.
He also said Hillary plans to change the No Child Left Behind Act, since it causes teachers to teach more to standardized testing and schools to cut back on funding for subjects that aren’t tested.
He also talked about college loans, a subject likely receiving the loudest applause.
“This country has a vested interest in not letting college costs choke the life out of vested dreams,” he said.
Other topics included balancing the federal budget and ending the war in Iraq. He said Hillary’s goal is to help Americans reclaim their dreams, as well as rebuild America’s standing in the world.
As Bill left the stage, he took time to shake hands and sign a few autographs for those in the audience before leaving for his next stop — Indianapolis.
“It was really neat to see someone important like that,” Mitchell Hadley, 14, said. “It sucks I can’t vote though.”
“It was amazing. Just the feeling I had, to have a great guy standing in front of everyone. I was nervous,” said Rafy Jaros, 18. “To have a former president stand in front of you, it gives you inspiration.”
Senior Eric Gonzada, 17, came prepared. He and a few of his friends wore polo shirts they made for a Louisville rally that had “I love Hillary” written on them. He even volunteered to help set up this event, as well as help with the Clinton campaign in the future.
“I think it was great, especially for the kids who aren’t involved in politics to see this first-hand and up close,” he said. “Maybe this will spark their interest and get them involved.”
“I was impressed, I really was,” said Gene Johnson, 65, of Corydon. “He seems to have a total grasp on what’s going on in the world and really cares about everyone, too.”
The day ended with no major problems during the event, although at one point a stretcher was brought in because someone felt exhausted from the heat inside the gym, Black said. However, that person, along with others in the group, walked out alongside the stretcher.
“I thought it went really well,” Black said, as he watched members of the Clinton campaign dismantle the stage, lighting and other equipment in the gym.
He talked about everything school officials, police officers and Secret Service members did to prepare for this, which included shutting down some classrooms, creating secure entryways for the former president and searching the school with police dogs.
“It’s a lot of work for a short period of time,” Black said.
He said this is the most exciting thing that has happened in his school career.
“In all my years at school, a governor’s wife came once when I was in elementary,” he said. “So this is definitely the biggest thing that’s happened.”

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