An overcast sky threatened rain as my daughter Leah and I walked briskly the half mile or so from our parking place at the Centre College Campus to 424 Maple Avenue, the home of Greg and Melissa Caudill, and the site of Bill Clinton’s appearance in our little town of Danville, KY. We were hoping that the surrounding streets being cordoned off, meaning people would have to walk some distance, and the impending rain, would not adversely affect attendance at President Clinton’s front porch gathering. Our concerns were quickly allayed as we got closer and became part of a steady stream, a stream that, in the space of the next hour and a half, would deposit a pool of what I estimated to be six or seven hundred people onto the front lawn and adjacent yards of number 424.

During the wait for President Clinton, my other two children, Justine and Lukas, arrived from school, and, within minutes all three of my children were interviewed by a local reporter, who wanted to speak especially to young people at the rally. Next to me, an elderly woman, rather short, and probably in her eighties, was laboring to get a good viewing spot. Since we were right by the barricade, I helped her to a position in front of me and next to my son, whom she asked if she could lean on from time to time since she “got a little dizzy sometimes.” Lukas, of course, obliged, and she expressed her admiration for Bill and how much she wanted to be there to see him. I met another elderly gentleman, a retired educator, who said that one of his former students, now a police officer, gave him a ride from the roadblock to our present location, and I suspect that’s how many of the older attendees were able to get there.

There was a murmur of excitement as Bill’s motorcade pulled into the driveway and to the back entrance of the home. After a few minutes, a man on a remote microphone announced,”Ladies and gentlemen, President Bill Clinton!” and Bill strode through the front door of the house and onto the porch, grinning from ear to ear. The crowd roared, whooped, stomped, and clapped; clearly Bill knew he had arrived in “Clintonville,” as one sign had proclaimed.

President Clinton thanked the Caudills, local Democrats, and the crowd, complimenting Danville on its beauty, history- a history which he had obviously taken the time to learn something about- and its landmarks, such as Constitution Square. He said that Danville was a town that was obviously “proud of its past and focused on its future,” and that he wants “the country to work the way you look.” President Clinton then proceeded to make his case for Hillary, essentially the same case he made in his speech in Elizabethtown four days prior, but perhaps even a little more finely-honed, if that’s possible. There were a few new twists in his presentation.He told the story of a successful Ohio company that manufactures solar panels and is now building a new plant, not in the US, but in Germany, because of the more favorable conditions due to the policies that have helped create the market for its products. At the behest of the Caudills , who have an autistic son, he also talked about autism, some of the theories as to its causes, how we don’t really know the causes, and how important stem cell research and human genome research can be in solving these problems. These two examples, the Ohio company and autism, he cited as areas where President Hillary Clinton could make a real difference by helping to develop good policy.

At this point, I became aware of the carefree, joyful noise of children playing in the neighboring yards, a fitting punctuation to the points that President Clinton was making. Again, Bill told the story of the NYPD captain on the golf course, and I swear I saw tears well up in his eyes. Then, his voice growing quieter, Bill repeated the story of Dalton Hatfield, and, for a moment, you could hear a pin drop, the crowd then bursting into a hearty, sustained applause, applause which carried over as Bill told the crowd that Hillary’s still very much in it, not to believe otherwise, and exhorting everyone to get out to vote. I felt I had just witnessed a superb barrister making his winning closing argument in the court of the people, people surely convinced, swayed by the power and truth of his arguments.

As Bill was working the line, drawing closer to our position, I noticed him pausing and talking to people, so I determined to ask him a question. I was about to experience a special moment in time. After we shook hands, I said, “Do you think the super delegates will use their heads?” He paused, and asked, “What’s that?” I repeated the question, and he stood there for probably two minutes, expounding on why he thought they should and, ultimately, would. He said that if Hillary wins the popular vote, which he seemed quite confident of, that it would be very difficult for the RBC to deny Florida and Michigan. “Then, it’s a whole new game.” He talked of the tremendous pressure that the delegates are under, but he felt that winning the popular vote and getting a fair resolution of Florida and Michigan, coupled with the states Hillary has won and the way in which she has won them, and their importance in the electoral equation, would sway the super delegates. I, and the people pressed in around me were enrapt in the words we were hearing from Bill Clinton. And then he moved on, thanking us all for coming out and supporting Hillary.

As we walked back down Maple Avenue, the spring sky refreshing us with a light sprinkle of rain, we were joined by Tony Wilder, our former county judge executive, who recently resigned to take a job in Frankfort with the new administration of Governor Steve Beshear. Tony seemed rather in a daze, saying, “There’s nobody like him. All that information at his fingertips, giving a speech like that and never looking at a note. Just amazing.” We both expressed hope that the super delegates would act wisely, and that the national party powers would come to their senses.

It has been an incredible week here in the commonwealth of Kentucky. Now, I would like to heartily thank Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea Clinton. They have graced our state with their own special sunshine and optimism, an optimism based on know-how and experience, creating a powerful wave of enthusiasm. May Hillary and Bill ride that wave all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

You can see photos, most of which were taken by Leah, here:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm173/kmissik/Bill%20Clinton%20In%20Danville/

You can view local news accounts here:

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=41020&format=html

http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=41021&format=html