Former President Bill Clinton stumps for Hillary in Missoula

By B.L. Azure

President Bill Clinton spoke to a crowd of around 1,500 last week at the University of Montana. He was in the state stumping for his wife Hillary who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. (B.L. Azure photo)

MISSOULA — Montana is currently in the vortex of the Democratic presidential candidate primary election storm. And the value of its 16 delegates is rising faster than the price of a barrel of oil.

Democratic candidates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) are in running campaign fights worthy of Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier. They are looking for the delegate-count knockout punch that is out there among the few states that have yet to conduct their primary elections. Montana’s is on June 3.

Last week former President Bill Clinton made stops in Kalispell and Missoula urging voters to cast ballots for his wife Hillary who is trailing Obama in the delegate count. Her chances are slim but President Clinton told the Missoula crowd last Wednesday that his wife is a fighter and not a quitter and she plans to stay in the race until all voters have cast ballots.

Montana State Senator Carol Williams (D-Missoula) who introduced President Clinton to the near 1,500 spectators on the University of Montana campus agreed that Hillary Clinton is a tough political warrior.

“She’s gutsy, she’s strong and she doesn’t give up,” Williams said. “She’s devoted her life working for those at the bottom of the ladder. She gives them a voice. She is the only candidate in the race that has universal healthcare for everyone. She will restore the partnership with Montana’s Native Americans.”

And with that Williams introduced President Bill Clinton to a raucous ovation from the partisan crowd.

Clinton said he was honored to be in Montana and he likened Hillary Clinton to the 1995 Montana Grizzlies who beat West Virginia’s Marshall University for the Division I-AA national championship with a fourth quarter rally.

Hillary Clinton was fresh off a primary victory in West Virginia the day before. A victory that he said was like the Grizzlies’ fourth quarter victory in the national championship game.

“I think it is worth noting that no Democrat has won the White House without winning West Virginia since 1916,” Clinton said. Although her chances of winning are slim she will soldier on. “All of us have worked too hard and too long not to win in November.”

Despite the rough and tumble nature of the Democratic nomination process, Clinton said the party will unite under one candidate when it faces off against Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) in November.

Clinton said every vote should be counted including the Florida and Michigan votes that the Democratic National Party discounted because the states moved their primaries up earlier in the process.

“I never thought it would be the Democratic Party that didn’t want to count votes in Florida. I thought that was the Republican strategy...,” Clinton said, alluding to the 2000 decision in Florida that halted a recount of votes that helped propelled George W. Bush into office. “The only thing she has asked for in this whole deal is to treat those people with dignity and fairness. All we have ever asked for is to count those votes. Let those votes count.”

Clinton told the crowd that Hillary Clinton has a better chance of beating McCain than Obama. And will foster change that benefits the masses and not the few - the richest.

“I think you ought to vote for her. She’s the best change maker that I know,” Clinton said. “We need a change maker. I think she is you best bet for change and I hope you agree.”