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Clinton pushes Obama, Garamendi at UC Davis
Former President Bill Clinton, making his fourth visit to Davis, exhorts the youthful crowd to vote Democratic on Nov. 6, telling them, "It's your future. ⦠It's your life." (Sue Cockrell/McNaughton newspapers)
DAVIS — The man who was serving as president when many of them were born exhorted UC Davis students on Tuesday to throw their support behind the Democratic ticket in the upcoming election, telling them, “It’s your future. . . . It’s your life.”
“We have to do the smart thing,” former President Bill Clinton told the throng of thousands gathered on the UC Davis Quad on Tuesday morning. “We have to do it together, and it all starts with you.”
Clinton was in town to campaign for four Democratic congressional candidates, including Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, who is running against Kim Vann, R-Arbuckle, in the 3rd Congressional District that includes much of Solano County.
The others for whom Clinton offered support were Jerry McNerney of Stockton’s 9th District, as well as two men challenging Republican incumbents: Ami Bera of Elk Grove, who is running against Rep. Dan Lungren in the 7th District, and Jose Hernandez of Stockton, who seeks freshman Rep. Jeff Denham’s seat in the 10th District.
All four candidates are in competitive races in redrawn districts. And all four benefited from the former president’s drawing power Tuesday, with likely the largest political rally of their careers thus far.
The event, organized by the Davis College Democrats, didn’t start until close to 11 a.m., but a huge crowd was on hand much earlier. UC Davis spokeswoman Claudia Morain estimated the crowd eventually grew to between 8,000 and 10,000 people. In addition to the many students packing the Quad, there were numerous fans both younger and older who had come to see Clinton.
Davis resident Bee Honeycutt, 70, took her grandchildren out of school for the morning so they could see and hear a former president in person.
As a young girl, Honeycutt said, her parents took her to see Lyndon B. Johnson on a whistlestop tour before he was even governor of Texas.
“My dad would hold me on his shoulders so I could see,” she recalled.
Later, she would see the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in person, as well as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
And on Tuesday, she arrived early on the Quad with her grandchildren – 8-year-old James King and his sister, 6-year-old Lena – to secure a good vantage spot. James and Lena missed class Tuesday, but their grandmother said she thought it was an excellent excuse.
“I thought it would be a good field trip,” she said.
Clinton didn’t disappoint the crowd, drawing cheers especially when he took on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But he focused in particular on college students and what, he said, is at stake for them in this election.
President Barack Obama, said Clinton, fought to increase the number of Pell Grants available to college students as well as to hold down interest rates on student loans and ensure that loan repayments would be determined by recent graduates’ new salaries, “and not the other way around.”
“What does (Romney) want to do?” Clinton asked. “Repeal that.
“(But) making it possible for you to repay your loans means more of you will do it,” he said. “We need you to finish, to get your degrees and go out and find a job.
“This is a huge deal,” he said. “This one thing can change the future of America.”
Clinton also echoed student speakers at the rally in plugging Proposition 30 – the ballot measure that would raise California’s sales tax by a .25 percent, as well as income taxes on the wealthiest Californians. Should the measure fail in November, cuts to education – including the University of California system – would immediately follow, speakers noted.
In endorsing Garamendi for the new 3rd Congressional District, Clinton noted that Garamendi had served as deputy secretary of the interior in his own administration, “where he protected the environment.”
He added that as a longtime rancher, Garamendi understands that when things go wrong – whether it’s a drought, a natural disaster or anything else – the phrase, ” ‘We’re all in this together,’ works better than ‘You’re on your own.’ ”
On Tuesday, Vann’s campaign manager, Alee Lockman, said, “This election is about the future of our country, not the good old days.”
“We need new ideas and real solutions, not more of Garamendi’s failed economic agenda and debt-increasing policies,” Lockman said. “It’s time for a new direction.”
Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8051. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.
Discussion | 19 comments
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G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 2:40 am
Yes it is your future.yes it is your life..and if you want to listen to an impeached dis-barred from the practice of law for life ex-cheeseburger of president..by all means vote for the Candy Man who has a little something in his bag for everyone in exchange for a vote
Reply |DJKOctober 10, 2012 - 7:16 am
actually Bill Clinton was never disbarred from the practce of law. You should'nt resort to lies to make your case as it just makes all your statements suspect. Richard Nixon (R) has been the only US President disbarred from the practice of law (due to Watergate scandal 1973 NY).
Reply |DJKOctober 10, 2012 - 7:18 am
edit. Nixon disbarred in 1976.
Reply |LoveMyCommunityOctober 10, 2012 - 8:18 am
DJK, it's always a pleasure reading your posts. I was at the rally yesterday - enjoyed hearing our former President speak as much as I did when he was president. IMO, he was the best president we've had in my lifetime, and no one has 'dazzled' me since he was in office. I'd love to have his sharp intellect and vision for just one day.
Reply |DJKOctober 10, 2012 - 9:56 am
Thanks for the kind words. I'll be the first to admit I'm partisan to the center-left but I always try to state my information with a basis in fact and tend not to manipulate words and take statements out of context. Many who post on DR tend to spew the daily talking points and if they were to spend 2 minutes doing a google search they can form their own informed opinion and debate others on the merit of their opinion. When all one does is parrot others with a biased agenda and cannot comprehend or defend what they are actually stating that just makes for an ill-informed and uneducated voter. Sad really...
Reply |LoveMyCommunityOctober 10, 2012 - 4:31 pm
A college teacher of mine - I will never forget, told me to never make a statement/comment unless I could back it up with fact. I've never forgotten that. It's saved me from looking "Ill-informed and uneducated" as well as closed minded. :) There's no point in discussing things with these types - they're right, we're wrong. No matter what the facts are.
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 9:49 pm
Well Community Lover(aren't you afraid of STDs?)that lesson from your College teacher evidently had a shelf life and has expired because you certainly look uninformed and foolish now.
Reply |LoveMyCommunityOctober 11, 2012 - 3:40 pm
Oh G, is this what you do when you don't agree with someone? you post 8 times in an hour nothing but personal attacks? I wasn't even talking to you, yet you want to talk about me having STD's and refer to my pants? You might want to re-think the cheap whiskey and late-night internet and instead work on your social skills.
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 10:19 pm
Yeah..I'm all broken up over it.but I do agree gamooches like DJK shouldn't be allowed to vote.
Reply |Bah Bah BahOctober 10, 2012 - 6:26 pm
Clinton was the biggest Con Man and the most corrupt President the media ever helped get elected....
Reply |Joe PikeyOctober 10, 2012 - 7:10 pm
Just more GOP/FOX "SHEEP" speak...
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 9:43 pm
And Pikey please let me know if you need help with any words over two syllables.
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 10:30 pm
Go figure...some people just love unconditionally...Clinton has always been a liar..he lied to his wife (not that she cares.. that woman has been cheated on more than a blind woman playing Scrabble with a band of Gypsies)...
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 10:41 pm
Clinton also lied to Congress,a Grand Jury,Journalists,his cabinet,and most importantly the American people...Who can forget him shaking his finger at the camera saying"I didn't have sex with that woman"
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 10:52 pm
It should also be noted as regards Bill Clinton...that after the lies he told his cabinet were exposed..not one cabinet member resigned...no one in the Clinton administration had the strength of character to say.."You lied to me..I can no longer serve you"...indicative of the moral decline in our country...ROMNEY RYAN 2012-2028
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 10:06 pm
Well you little community lover..I'll give you a moment to catch your breath and change your pants....Clinton?..the best president in your lifetime?...What's the matter you didn't like Lincoln?....It's the beard huh?..you'd rather be dazzled than tickled..some community lover you are...So you'd love to have Clinton's intellect and vision for one day huh?...What would you do with it?...program your Ipod?
Reply |G-ManOctober 10, 2012 - 9:40 pm
Well right back at ya DJK...Clinton was disbared in Arkansas for 5 yrs..and dis-barred from the SCOTUS as well..I don't believe he contested the SCOTUS sanctions and if I'm correct those sanctions would then become permanent..ie:"Dis-bared for life"...I make mistakes but I don't knowingly lie... you've been on the left too long...get it right!
Reply |John Mayall - I'm Your WitchdoctorOctober 10, 2012 - 9:52 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5PA5RJOCc4
Reply |Cheap Thrills - Turtle BluesOctober 10, 2012 - 9:59 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky7ps-KWieg
Reply |