Bill Clinton warms up Wyoming's week in sun

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 04:27 p.m., March 6, 2008
Updated 07:30 p.m., March 6, 2008

Photo by Dennis Schroeder

Bill Clinton stumps for his wife tonight at the University of Wyoming Sports Complex. Hundreds lined up in frigid weather to hear Clinton speak as Wyoming winds up for Saturday caucuses.

LARAMIE — It's enough to make a Wyoming Democrat's head spin.

For the first time in a couple decades, Democratic presidential front-runners are campaigning in the Cowboy State, their eyes on the 18 Wyoming delegates up for grabs Saturday.

Former President Bill Clinton was the first political heavyweight to arrive, speaking to a crowd of about 1,000 here tonight at the University of Wyoming.

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is scheduled to appear at two events in Wyoming on Friday - one in Casper and one in Laramie. Sen. Hillary Clinton - fresh off dramatic wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island - said she will be in Casper and Cheyenne on Friday.

Brianna Orr, 20, who was born and raised in Laramie, said it was nice to see attention being paid to her home state. She flew in from Philadelphia, where she is pursuing a career in boxing, and figured while she was home, she'd try for a glimpse of the former president and possibly his wife on Friday.

Clinton's visit was greeted with much anticipation on the campus, with a line forming early in the afternoon in sub-freezing temperatures.

As the wind chill nudged the thermometer lower, supporter and volunteer Nick Kelly began wishing he had his coat with him.

"They're doing a security sweep and my jacket is in there," he said. "I keep going up to them, hoping they'll change their mind, but I guess I'll have to wait."

The 63-year-old from Boulder, in a black short-sleeved T-shirt festooned with Hillary Clinton stickers, was going up and down the line handing out more stickers that were gobbled up by supporters.

In the course of about 20 minutes, the line had grown to more than 200 people.

"This is amazing," he said. "It shows that every state counts - even Wyoming."

Clinton told the crowd that the nation will never succeed economically while health care costs skyrocket and the national debt hovers at $4 trillion.

And the solution, to no one's surprise, is to elect his wife president.

The former president also paid homage to Wyoming being the first state to grant women the right to vote.

"Wyoming, you led the nation in women's suffrage," he said. "You might as well lead the nation in electing a woman for president."

Clinton struck three main themes during his hour-long speech - economic stimulation, access to health care and creating alternative forms of energy. The last theme particularly resonates with a state whose primary economic engine is energy.

One area he tackled was coal, among one of the keys for the state. He said ways must be developed to extract the CO2 emissions from it, which would create job growth while being environmentally-friendly.

"We can figure out how to do this," he said. "You should want it done because China is bringing on a coal-fire plant every 10 days."

He touted his wife's health care plan, saying that people could stick with their current coverage if they liked what they had, but they would also have an opportunity to have the same health coverage that federally elected officials have if they wished.

"If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for you," he said.

• March 6, 2008

  6:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  PMSXpress writes:

  "Plus, since my mom is supporting Obama, I guess it's the rebel in me to support Clinton."

  Now there's a good reason to vote for someone.

• March 6, 2008

  9:25 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Kara writes:

  IT SEEMS LIKE BILL IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT INSTEAD OF HILLARY. It's amazing how he seems to have all the answers instead of her. My guess is that Bill will make most of the decisions when the chips are down.