Stumping

Clinton had things worth listening to

Editor's Note: Former President Clinton's visit Saturday gave residents and the other local media a chance to undertake standard journalism to report on what is, no doubt, a standard stump speech. The Amarillo Independent wanted a different approach to the story and asked Warren McCarty, a former sportswriter and now an entrepreneur, to take a different — and personal — approach to reporting the visit.

By Warren McCarty
For The Amarillo Independent

Ralph Nader received a checkmark beside his name on the last presidential ballot that I bothered to fill out. The world, both literally and politically, has undergone changes in warp-speed since the 2000 presidential election.

Photo by Ralph Duke Future First Gentleman?: Bill Clinton stumps for his wife.

America seems to be in a constant state of turmoil, with wars overseas and our economy in dire straights. The Middle East continues to endure violence and death on a daily basis (Hasn't it always been thus?) and the atrocities goingon in Africa are too numerous to mention.

My family has grown by four additional kids, I'm eight years older, I have more wrinkles and I still haven't won the lottery. With all of that being said, my wife convinced me to load the family into our minivan and venture to the Amarillo Civic Center Saturday to hear one of the most controversial presidents in my lifetime speak on behalf of his wife. If nothing else, I figured that it would be a rare opportunity.

The speech former President Clinton delivered was surprisingly informative, light-hearted at times and offered a closer glimpse into the key issues that Hillary Clinton is basing her campaign on.

While it was intriguing to see the former president in person, my attention gravitated toward the way he broke down the information he was delivering and away from the pomp and circumstance surrounding his appearance.

I'm not sure what it cost Hillary's campaign for the former president to stop in Amarillo, surrounded by his security detail, in order to stump on her behalf, but Saturday's line-item on her budget was money well spent in my estimation.

In fairness, I will make it a point to educate myself more on where Barack Obama stands on key issues prior to the election because I've yet to do so. However, if the election were held tomorrow, Hillary Clinton would have earned two new votes.

Her stance makes sense to me. She is not without a controversial past, and there is substance to the argument that her husband's tenure was not all that rosy, especially with respect to his office's handling of the World Trade Center attack of 1993 and warnings of eminent terrorist attacks that went ignored.

On the other hand, I'm sure she developed a first-hand understanding of what works and what doesn't work in Washington.

I cringe at the thought of being labeled Democrat or Republican and my better half shares the same sentiment. The former president made a compelling case on behalf of his wife and it caught our attention.

Ultimately, my wife and I have decided that we won't be voting for a Republican candidate as the next president of the United States.

That's not a popular stance in these parts, but I can't understand how any middle-class Americans like us could really feel otherwise. In my opinion, this country as a whole is not where it needs to be after eight years of Republican rule in the White House. Thus, it is time for a "regime change." It seems like only yesterday we were hearing that phrase to justify our actions, almost on a daily basis.

E-mail comments about this story
to the publisher of The Amarillo Independent.

Posted: February 21, 2008