An evening with Bill Clinton

I first saw Bill Clinton in person back in the Fall of 1992 when he was running for his first term in office. He was speaking on the grassy area near the LBJ Library on the UT campus. I missed Deborah Morrison’s Advertising 387-Creative Topics class to attend the rally that warm afternoon. When I later explained my absence to Deborah, one of my favorite professors, she told me I made the right decision because I would remember his visit more than anything said in class that day. I don’t know what I missed in class, but I do know that I remember her words and philosophy. I apply this same philosophy with my own students. And this philosophy guided my decision to haul Emma out last night for the opportunity to see the former President of the United States.


The rally was slated to start at 5:30 on the UT campus. David, Emma and I got in line at 5:00. At promptly 5:30, the line started to move. As usual, David led the way while I looked around at everything and everybody. While we were inching our way toward the South Mall, I caught the eye of an "older" woman who stood out from the crowd like me. Mind you, this was clearly a UT student, 20-something crowd. For some reason, this woman and I locked gazes. I smiled. She smiled back. Then this woman with a ‘Hillary Volunteer’ badge started waving a bunch of yellow pieces of paper at me and called me towards her. “Here,” she said. “Take these special tickets.” I asked her why me? She said, “Because you brought your daughter.”

I gave David a “just stick with me” look and off we ran with our yellow tickets in hand. We bypassed the general standing area, walked passed security, and quickly made our way up the steps of the UT Tower Building.

From the steps of the Tower, we had the most amazing view of the crowd. We were standing with all the volunteers, event organizers, photographers, secret service guys and warm-up speakers. It truly felt like we were back stage.

After about an hour of very lame student speakers, Bill Clinton himself walked right by us as he made his way to the speaker’s stand. I held Emma close and whispered in her ear to remember this moment when she got to see the former President of the United States. She asked what “former” meant, but she understood “President of the United States.”

David and I are on a roll. I’ve got energy and we are going to hear Obama speak this morning at the Austin Convention Center.

Here are some pictures from last night....


Here is a visual cliché of Texas: cowboys with attitudes. People don't really dress like this in Texas. I think these young men are members of the Silver Spurs, an honorary service organization responsible for taking care of Bevo, the UT longhorn steer mascot.


Another Silver Spur fella under the UT Main Building.




I am fascinated by secret service guys. About a dozen of them surrounded Clinton while he talked.








A photograher pointed her camera out at the crowd while Emma surveyed the scene in disbelief.



Here is Bill Clinton as he walked by. I'd say Bill was about 6 feet away from us... about the same distance between our refrigerator and our side exit door.