Standing near the back of a snug crowd Monday at Clark College, an eager Carol Anderson shook a pair of teal and purple tambourines adorned with stickers bearing her preferred presidential candidate’s name: Hillary Clinton.
The Vancouver resident joined a crowd of perhaps 1,000 that crammed into Gaiser Hall to hear former President Bill Clinton stump for his wife’s presidential campaign, while another 300 watched on camera in an overflow room. The crowd, many of which were forced to stand in the small room, cheered, clapped and laughed along with the former president as he addressed the issues he believed made his wife most qualified to run the country — and urged them to vote in this weekend’s Democratic caucuses.
“Please, go. Please know that between now and the time of the caucus, you will pass somewhere between 20 and 50 people you know that you might be able to drag there,” Clinton told the crowd to laughter and scattered applause.
Anderson, who would only say she’s a “little older than (Clinton’s Democratic opponent) Bernie Sanders,” has been with the Clintons since the beginning. And from her campaign button of Bill Clinton’s 1992 run, to her baseball cap bearing Hillary Clinton’s signature from her 2008 run, she had the swag to prove it.
“I think she is the person and he is the help person that are going to bring us back,” Anderson said as cheers of “Bill, Bill, Bill” burst out around her. Anderson plans to caucus this weekend, she said.
The long line of supporters that waited to hear Clinton skewed older and less energetic than the excited crowd of thousands who waited to hear Sanders, who brought his message of political revolution to Hudson’s Bay High School on Sunday. But like Anderson, many in the crowd were enthusiastic about their longtime support of the Clintons.
“I’ve always liked Bill,” said Cindy Bothwall, 61. She and two friends, Tracey Leask, 45 and Erika Cox, 43, waited in line for several hours to hear Clinton speak.
“I just thought he was amazing in office,” she added. “And Hillary’s going to be just as amazing.”
Leask added: “I’m looking forward to hearing about foreign policy. Obviously being from England, it’s always nice to hear that people in America know what else is going on the world.”
Melissa Lile, 42, and her 12-year-old son, Aidan Xander, huddled under an umbrella while waiting to see the former president. At 18 years old, Lile cast her first vote for president for Clinton, and she wanted her son to learn more about politics by attending the rally.
“I brought my son today because I wanted him to see the process and to see people supporting who they believed in — a little bit of activism,” she said. “This is probably the first presidential election where he’s going to fully understand.”
Aidan, holding a sign reading “Thank you, Mr. President,” said he hoped to come away from the speech with “knowledge about election.”
Don Kerr Jr. and his wife Peggy Kerr huddled against the cold to hear the former president. Don Kerr said the couple have been longtime fans of the Clintons, going back to his presidency.
“We just believe that (Hillary Clinton’s) got the most experience and can just step right on in on the first day of presidency,” he said.
Not all in the crowd, however, were longtime supporters of the Clintons.
Amber Rose, 39, said she’s leaning toward voting for Clinton this November, but that she appreciates Sanders’ points of view.
“My point of view is really about practicality and how it works in the system,” she said. “Hillary has been working in it for 30 years, plus. She knows how to work everything.”
Both Democratic presidential candidates’ appearances come about a week in advance of the party’s caucuses this Saturday, where the party will select its convention delegates.
