(Beloit, Wisconsin)
If Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is to win the Democratic Nomination for President, she must start attracting more youth voters. To that end, her daughter Chelsea made a solo appearance today at chilly, snow covered Beloit College in southern Wisconsin.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has owned the youth vote this primary season. In fact he probably single-handedly "awoke" the sleeping 18-24 demographic, that almost never votes in large numbers.
So, the New York candidate has turned to the 27 year old Stanford educated, former first daughter for help.
Beloit students applauded every time Chelsea said her mother would end the Iraq war. It is the issue that received the most response today.
The first student to question her called her Hillary, and the crowd burst out laughing. "My grandmother does it too, its OK," Chelsea said. Then students in a glass enclosed balcony above her could not hear. "I can mime, " she said, again to much laughter. All-in-all she was very at ease, even during some hostile questioning from what appeared to be Obama and Republican students. She never flinched.
Whether you agree with the Clinton's or not, their daughter has made a remarkable transformation. From the awkward 12 year old who entered the White House with her parents, to a sharp, articulate college graduate, who spoke completely off the cuff today with no notes. Her jokes were spontaneous and she had the packed Campus Center laughing often. She made no speech and just took questions for well over an hour. "Oh Gosh," she said repeatedly to the huge number of student questions. If that was her only nervous tick, she could be quite a candidate somewhere down the road.
Finally a male student asked, "As early as 8 years from now, would you consider running for President?" The young Clinton will be old enough then at age 35, but was diplomatic in her response. "My political aspirations stretch to my mom becoming your president," she said.
There was controversy too. Chelsea said of her mother "She certainly supports opening diplomatic relations with everyone. She won't go to Tehran (Iran) on Jan 21st, but she will talk to everyone," the younger Clinton said. Obama supporter and Beloit student Alex Brown seized on that after the rally, because Clinton has criticized Obama for making similar statements in the past. Brown says the New York Democrat is trying to have it both ways. "She'll try to appease the far left as much as possible, then move to the right" (on speaking to enemy nations like Iran), he said.
A little of news was made at the rally. One student asked about Super Delegates, who may determine the outcome of this race if neither Clinton, nor Obama have the 2,025 regular delegates to win outright. Some Members of Congress have promised to vote the way their district votes, regardless of previous campaign endorsements, but others are unrelenting.
"I'm going to stick with Senator Clinton," said Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) who is a Super Delegate. She plans to vote for Clinton, even if her district goes to Obama.
Chelsea Clinton ended the rally posing for pictures with students and mingling with the crowd. As is her practice, she declined to speak with any reporters. While she impressed the Beloit crowd, she will have competition. Barack Obama will speak to many of the same students here tonight.
I'll be "live" with Ross McGowan, at 7:45 Tuesday morning on KTVU's "Mornings on 2" as Wisconsin begins voting.
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