Hillary's Getting My Vote

Look who came to town today. And look who got pulled out of the crowd for a one-on-one!

It was a surprise visit, but word spread a bit and a few people gathered in and around a local doughnut and coffee shop where the Democratic presidential candidate and former First Lady was to pop in and say hi. When we got there, the inside was at capacity and we weren't allowed in. So we found a spot outside. The folks inside saw we weren't allowed in (I'm not sure I really wanted to go inside anyway), so someone quickly walked out with a bag full of doughnuts for us. Isn't that sweet? When she arrived she waved to the little crowd outside and promised to come back after first going inside. She probably stayed inside for 15 or 20 minutes before coming back out to greet us.

When she walked over to us in the crowd one of the Secret Service guys said, "Mrs. Clinton, these children have been waiting here the whole time (or a long time or something to that effect)." She pulled Anna and Alexander out from the crowd about 3 or 4 or 5 feet and chatted with them. She asked me their names and I told her. I also gave her our Curious George scratch pad for her to autograph. She had planned to address her autograph to both children before Alexander intervened. (See autograph photo). She got as far as writing "Anna and", when Alexander told her he wanted to write his name. She said something like, "Do you know how to spell your name? You have a long name." But she indulged him, and you can see his chicken scratch that looks like a # sign. Then Anna wanted to write her name, and Hillary indulged her, too. Anna wrote the letter A and N and that other letter up at the top. Finally, Hillary said "How 'bout if I write my name?" So she signed Hillary at the bottom of the page. By the way, Anna was sure to tell Hillary how to spell her name, A-N-N-A, which the candidate seemed to find both amusing and impressive (I think you can see her surprised expression in one of the photos here).

It felt like Mrs. Clinton devoted a good 2 or 3 minutes with the kids and I sensed their time together was coming to an end. I instructed the children to tell her "Nice to meet you." And they both said it at the same time very loud and very clear and everybody got a big kick out of it. She then went on to greet others down the line, and as she was leaving she waved and said "Bye Anna, Bye Alexander."

Since we were the only children out there, I suspected we might get some attention. (While we were waiting for the long time, the children were sitting on the ground and at one point a Secret Service agent told me to make sure they stand up when the vehicles arrived so that the children would be visible.) I didn't expect that much attention but was delighted. I guess it pays to have cute kids! At least that's what the police officer told me after it was all done.

She's getting my vote!

It's starting to feel like we're a Clinton family, as we got to see former President Bill Clinton just a few months back while we were in Lake Charles. That was just before the Louisiana primary. South Dakota's primary is June 3. (Bill was here in town campaigning for his wife on Saturday but we were all sick then and figured we'd already seen him!)