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Presidential campaigns continue in Waco over weekend
The presidential campaigns sweeping through Central Texas this weekend used varying strategies to attract Waco voters to their candidates.
The Barack Obama camp focused on foreign policy with a panel discussion at the East Waco library, where organizers hoped to convince undecided voters that the Illinois senator would strengthen the United States’ standing in the world.
On the Hillary Clinton, a small group of volunteers and campaign staffers worked to boost “visibility” for the New York senator and promote early voting by waving signs off the Eighth Street pedestrian bridge over Interstate 35. Erika Alexander, whose credits include the roles of Pam Tucker on “The Cosby Show” and Maxine on the Fox sit-com “Living Single,” briefly joined the sign wavers and attended a Baylor men’s basketball game to woo potential Hillary voters.
More than 40 people packed a small room Saturday at the library for the foreign policy discussion in which campaign advisers extolled the virtues of what they said an Obama presidency would mean for the U.S.
Greg Craig, who has worked in the U.S. State Department in 1997 and 1998 and was Bill Clinton’s lead defense lawyer during his impeachment battle, said he is supporting Obama because of his “enthusiasm for what he can do for foreign relations.”
Craig said he believes that Obama’s judgement and “courage for sticking up for what he believes” has helped him pass legislation to crack down on nuclear weapons proliferation around the world and make accurate assessments of security threats.
He said Afghanistan is where the “bad guys are,” referring to al-Queda and the Taliban. He said that is where U.S. military forces are being strained and need help.
But the United States needs to do more than focus on military force in Afghanistan, he said. It also needs to “develop a political force that institutes and follows the rule of law,” he said.
Retired Air Force Gen. Scott Gration, who has logged 274 aerial combat missions over Iraq and accompanied Obama during a 15-day tour of Africa, said he believes the senator understands how to use military force in the proper way, meaning that all diplomatic options have been exhausted.
“He has the judgement to use our forces correctly and use resources appropriately to solve problems,” he said.
Dan Restrepo, the director of the Americas Project at the Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy think tank, said that an Obama administration would work to repair relationships with countries in Latin America by restoring the United States’ leadership role in the Western Hemisphere.
Restrepo said Obama would focus on advancing common interests with other Latin American countries, lessening the economic inequality that causes immigrants to come to the United States in search of jobs, fixing the U.S.’s “broken” immigration system, and using “smart enforcement” to ensure that employers are complying with U.S. laws.
The U.S. needs to transcend the “ugly debate” that has caused the rate of hate crimes against Hispanics to increase, he said.
“We are not going to solve this in a partisan way,” Restrepo said.
At about 6:30 p.m., Hillary supporter Alexander joined the sign wavers on the bridge after making an appearance in College Station. The actress said she had campaigned for Hillary at Austin Community College, San Antonio College, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.
Alexander said she hoped she could use her fame to get people to do a “double take” and create an opening for a conversation about Hillary’s campaign. She said she understands Obama’s popularity among black voters, but she wants them to think about the candidates’ experience and polices in addition to their racial background.
“I’ve done a lot of strong black woman roles and I hope that when people think about that they will vote as an individual and not as a mob,” she said.
About 3,000 Hillary Clinton supporters also showed up for a rally in Killeen, where her husband, former president Bill Clinton, was joined by Waco insurance magnate and philanthropist Bernard Rapoport. Actor Ted Danson was also on hand for the rally.
The Killeen Daily Herald has a series of videos on its Web site of the rally.
Upcoming
Keep checking back at the Trib’s Election ‘08 blog for updates on the opening of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s campaign field offices. Both are expected to hold grand opening celebrations this week.
Campaign sources say the Obama office, at 1818 Columbus Ave, next to Waco Montessori School, could officially open Monday. Clinton’s Waco campaign headquarters at 401 Lake Air Drive is expected to open during the middle of the week.
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