"Ex-President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary
Clinton get prime seats for the
Rev. Billy Graham's sermon yesterday."
Posted on 06/26/2005 7:15:16 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
On the second night of his New York crusade, evangelist Billy Graham got a little help from two friends - Bill and Hillary Clinton.
The ex-President and New York's junior senator joined the crowd of 80,000 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, and were greeted like soul mates.
The audience screamed as Bill Clinton took Graham's hand and spoke about previous revivals.
"Hillary and I are honored to be here tonight ... 46-plus years after I attended my first Billy Graham crusade," Clinton said.
"I took Hillary in 1971, and in 1979, when he came back to Arkansas, I was the governor. So I've been doing this a long time."
He said Graham won his heart decades ago when he refused to speak to a segregated audience.
"I was just a little boy, and I never forgot it and I've loved him ever since," Clinton said. "He's about the only person I know who I've never seen fail to live his faith."
Graham returned the favor, lavishing the Democratic power duo with praise.
"They're a great couple," he said. "I told an audience that I felt when he left the presidency he should be an evangelist because he has all the gifts and he'd leave his wife to run the country."
Mayor Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also attended last night's rally, which had a more youthful feel than the first night.
A concert by the Christian pop group Jars of Clay helped pack the park with teens, and the 86-year-old Graham tailored his sermon to the younger generation.
He threw in references to Madonna, the Rolling Stones and the new "Star Wars" movie and mentioned the time U2 frontman Bono visited his home.
The kids gave the white-haired Southern gentleman the rock-star treatment.
"I came for Billy Graham - then found out the bands were here," said Reid Ouse, 16, from Minnesota.
Earlier in the day, the sandbox set was treated to a performance by Gotham's newest superhero, a Spandex-clad, sword-wielding do-gooder named Bibleman.
He mesmerized an estimated 10,000 tots by spouting Scripture and kicking butt. Graham ends his crusade, which he says will be his last in the U.S., with a rally this afternoon.
Hillary may have footed the 7 million dollars to bring BG to NY. We'll hear these quotes and see these pics several more times...especially in southern swing states around Sept of 08.
Hillary may have footed the 7 million dollars to bring BG to NY. We'll hear these quotes and see these pics several more times...especially in southern swing states around Sept of 08.
ahhhh... that's so sweeeet. Who cares, everyone knows they they will do ANYTHING for power.
Never miss a photo-op
I'm flabbergasted.
Could the Clinton be anymore obvious?
fyi
What's next??
Regular church going?? Sounds about right. Hit the Black churches in the South??
They'll start going to the Catholic Churches like Kerry did
C'mon, Archie, you don't think that ever crossed Hillary's mind, do you?
Expect to see that photograph frequently between now and 2008.
As Hillary said: "I've always been a praying person."
Many will blame his health or his staff -- or just give him a pass because he's Billy Graham. Well, being Billy Graham means MORE accountability, not less (cf. James 3:1 and countless other similar Scriptures). This is not his first glaring de facto contradiction of the Gospel, it comes after decades of selling out bit by bit. For a sad, well-documented read on that theme (in Graham and others), see Evangelicalism Divided, by Iain Murray.
"We'll hear these quotes and see these pics several more times...especially in southern swing states around Sept of 08."
If you look at the crowd at this revival... beside out-of-town "red staters", it's also local African-Americans and evangelical Latinos. Bush made inroads with these communities in 2004. Even if she has no chance with conservative white evangelicals, Hillary and Bill understand the she needs 99.9% of the vote in West Philadelphia, North Miami, and the north side of Milwaukee.
Excuse me while I go throw up my breakfast.... Oh, wait, I haven't had any yet, so it'll be dry heaves.
Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a parallel universe.
This has a double meaning:
He (Clinton) would abandon his wife in order to run the country.
He would allow his wife to run the country.
Clinton has already been there, done that.
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