Hillary Clinton at Cal State L.A.

Note: This post was originally published on 2

I heard that Senator Hillary Clinton was coming to Cal State LA in my class at the school last Tuesday.  A student passed around a flyer saying she would be coming on Saturday and be there from 12 noon to 2 PM.  The flyer had an url to go to for more information.  I wrote down that url and later we looked it up.  It said it was a “get out the vote” rally and that the time had been changed to 9:00 am to 12:30 pm and that it was free.  Other politicians and lawmakers would also be there.  We decided to check it out because we could just go there on the Metrolink train using our monthly passes so we wouldn’t have to find and pay for parking.  We had never seen a major presidential candidate in person before let alone a U.S. president.  This may be our only chance.  We liked that she chose to come to Cal State LA that is easily accessible to public transportation and doesn’t play a favorite between UCLA and USC.

We caught the earliest Metrolink train on Saturday that arrived at the Cal State LA station at 8:30 am.  We walked from the south end of campus and there were some large “Hillary for President” signs placed in prominent places.  We passed the main gym where the event was to be held and there were security people, event staff, police tape and the start of a very long line.  There were tables selling refreshments, places for people to buy or pick up signs, buttons, and other campaign paraphernalia.  The people in line carried their own signs, wore t-shirts and sweatshirts and buttons supporting Hillary.  They were mostly nonstudents though there were many others that looked like students.  The line went north from the gym up past the Luckman Fine Arts Complex and turned east along Circle Drive past the music building and finally ending in front of King Hall, the building where I’ve had most of my education classes.

We got in line at around 8:43 am behind a student studying to get his masters in electrical engineering.  He had a free t-shirt that some people were passing out farther up in the line.  The only stipulation was that those who took them had to wear them at the rally.  Two women, one holding a “Got Experience” sign soon got in line behind us and the line kept growing.  We were wondering if we would get into the gym.  The masters student said that he heard the stadium was a back up location.  The line started moving at 9:00 am and a police car drove by with the officer announcing that the gym doors were about to open and then the line would move quickly.  That answered the question about whether it would be in the gym or the stadium.  Now we worried that we wouldn’t get in.  We didn’t know how many people fit in the gym, though later we learned a capacity of 4,000. As we waited people came by selling buttons, usually for $5 each.  One button said “Bill Clinton for First Laddie.”  The line moved in spurts; I guess because they had to let groups through security.  As we moved back through into the main campus and past the library we could hear the speakers broadcasted from inside the gym.  We heard Brad Sherman, a congressman representing part of the San Fernando Valley; Judy Chu, vice chair of the California Board of Equalization; and Gray Davis, recent former Governor of California.

Earlier in the line a student (or volunteer?) came by and said that we weren’t allowed to bring signs into the rally.  They wanted us to hold up only certain signs that we would be given.  As we got closer to the gym other volunteers came by reassuring us that we would get in but that those who couldn’t get in could wait for an outdoor rally following the indoor one that Senator Clinton would also speak at.  We got to the doors at 10:15 am where they had airport-like security gates.  They had the metal detectors turned up high.  I had to get “wanded.”  We finally got to gym where Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) was speaking.  We went to the bleachers elevated behind the stage.  It looked like there were a lot of seats but many of them were reserved for UFW and machinist union members.  We found some seats close to the top of the bleachers.

They passed around some red, white, and blue “Hillary for President” signs and my wife got one.  Most people there were holding up these signs and also some yellow ones that said “Hillary Smart Choice”.  I guess they wanted the signs to appear homogenous and that’s why they didn’t let people bring their own.  There was a large American flag on the gym wall to the right of the stage.  Many people were on the gym floor surrounding the stage and the speakers mostly had their backs to us, though most were nice enough to turn around at times.

Ms. Huerta ended her speech and introduced America Ferrera, the star of the hit sitcom Ugly Betty and the only speaker under 25 that we saw.  She talked about how she’s been campaigning for Hillary for the past two weeks.  She was raised by a single mother with five siblings and made it through college with student loans.  She talked about how students now are put into “involuntary servitude” by their student loans and that Hillary plans to fix that.  Hillary, she described, was able to go to law school with a federal loan that had a 2% interest rate.  Is it possible to get that now?  No way!  America asked everyone under 25 in the crowd to scream and they did very loudly.  She said that this election was our election and that Hillary won’t just provide hope, she’ll provide help.

After America finished speaking, Ms. Huerta introduced two local congresswomen, one of whom was Hilda Solis who represents Azusa, El Monte, and other parts of the San Gabriel Valley.  Their speeches were followed by ones from L.A. City Councilwomen Wendy Gruell and Janice Hahn who described how Hillary inspired her.  The speeches were sometimes difficult to hear because of the crowd cheering.  They chanted “Hil-lar-ry”, “Viva Hillary”, and “Sí se puede” (i.e. “yes she can”) at various times.  Campaign volunteers would also throw t-shirts into the crowd that said “Hillary Speaks to Me.”  They came close but not close enough for us to catch one.

Sally Field and Bradley Whitford, who appeared in the TV show The West Wing, came to the stage.  Sally Field described how she was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley.  She watched every debate, even the Republican debates to decide who she should support.  She wanted to “let the candidates speak to [her].”  She was most impressed with Hillary because of how she behaved.  Sally felt that Hillary dealt best with the attacks against her, that she drew strength from the attacks and was “willing to be human when others looked for weakness.”  Bradley Whitford said he represented the “acting” presidents (i.e. the actors that played presidents).  He said that Hillary would “fight for a future where our schools are shinier than our missiles.”

An all-female mariachi band of 14 singers and musicians took the stage and performed four songs.  They played guitars, fiddles, a large acoustic bass, and horns.  Some of the Latino audience members sitting near us were singing along.  The singers sang some long notes that drew cheers.

After the mariachi band left the stage was empty for 10-15 minutes.  Over the PA system they played “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Every Little Thing She does is Magic” by The Police, “Suddenly I See” by K.T. Tunstall.  While the music played they set up a stool with a bottle of water on the stage, presumably for Senator Clinton.

They introduced “a man who needs no introduction, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.”  He started by saying that he grew up not very far from Cal State LA in a neighborhood called City Terrace part of a community better known as East L.A.  The mayor described how he has been voting since 1972 and he has never seen a more talented field of presidential candidates than the field this year.  But, he stated, Hillary Clinton is “head and shoulders above the others.”

At the end of the mayor’s speech the cheering got very loud.  I’m not sure who came out first or the exact order but the mayor introduced Magic Johnson, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellum, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, CA Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, and finally Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.  The stage was crowded and would get even more crowded as they spoke.  Hillary greeted the other leaders and waved to very loud cheering.

Magic Johnson spoke and had perhaps the best line of the rally when he described how “all the people will be happy.”  Maxine Waters followed and mentioned how she attended and graduated from Cal State LA as a single mother.  Speaker Nuñez spoke followed by Mayor Ron Dellum who quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: “Peace is not just the absence of war but the presence of justice.”  Supervisor Gloria Molina came next.  As they spoke, leaders and celebrities that spoke early joined them on stage.  Brad Sherman, Sally Field, Bradley Whitford, Gray Davis, and Ted Danson came back out.  At the end of her speech Gloria Molina introduced “The next president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton!”

All the local leaders and celebrities cleared the stage and Hillary spoke clearly and eloquently for half an hour.  She faced both the other side and our side of the stage as she spoke.  She emphasized that getting access to health care for all Americans wasn’t just an issue but a cause that is central to her mission.  Unlike her opponent, she supports universal health care.  She mentioned how she had spoken earlier that morning to a couple in Inglewood who had to take out a second mortgage on their home to pay their daughter’s college tuition and their adjustable rate mortgage went up.  They’re worried they won’t be able to play for their younger daughter’s college.  Hillary stated that she would end the unfunded mandate known as “No Child Left Behind” that turns children into “little test takers.”  She talked about giving support to students who want to go into public service jobs such as teaching or medical research so that they don’t have to spend the decade after graduation working to pay off student loans.  She said she is trying to be very specific because she believes we have the right to know exactly what she plans to do.  She mentioned Bobby Kennedy and César Chavez from 40 years ago and how Bobby Kennedy Jr. and César Chavez’s grandson support her now.  She mentioned ending the war in Iraq, supporting veterans, reforming the mortgage industry, and ending the era of “Cowboy Diplomacy.”

After Hillary finished speaking most of the crowd left the gym.  Many others crowded around Hillary to shake her hand and have her sign their campaign signs.  We tried to get in to see her but it was too packed and crazy so we left the gym and started walking back to the train station.  Outside the gym another crowd was assembled, presumably for the rally they said would follow the indoor activities.  We walked around the crowd, took a few photos with my wife’s cell phone (our camera had run out of battery power), arrived at the train station and caught the 1:30 train back to Covina station.  We saw a major presidential candidate for the first time along with several local leaders and celebrities (though this is the third time we’ve seen Mayor Villaraigosa, he’s always in the spotlight).

Californians, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday!