Posted on 07/26/2003 5:21:27 PM PDT by sweetliberty
Standing at Sam’s Club in west Little Rock, hundreds of Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters waited eagerly Friday to see the woman many of them believe will be president.
They stood in line for hours hoping for signed copies of Clinton’s latest book, Living History. She showed up 20 minutes early at 4:40 p.m.
Many of her fans wanted more than a signature from the Democratic senator from New York — they wanted to chat with her and touch her hand.
"She won’t run in 2004, but she’ll run [someday]," said Naga Pannala, 21, as she waited for a wristband to guarantee a spot for Clinton to sign her copy of Living History. "I’ll vote for her."
Behind Pannala in the 400-long line, Dicky Simpson tossed in his opinion.
"She’s pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes," he said, arms folded across his chest. "It’ll be 2004."
Clinton, former first lady of Arkansas, says she’s not a candidate.
"I always tell people that I am not running, but I am hoping we will have a change in the White House," Clinton said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I’ll be working hard to elect a Democrat, and hopefully we’ll get that done in 2004."
Clinton said she came back to the state Friday partly because of her fans, who have opinions on her marriage, her politics and her ambitions.
"They offer opinions on everything. That comes with the territory," Clinton said. "They tell me what they relate to in the book."
Clinton, who has rarely returned to Arkansas, said Friday that the visit was a welcome one.
"I really don’t know how long it’s been," she said of her last trip. "Too long."
Though she’s been away from the state, Clinton said, she’s run into several Arkansans on her book tour.
"It’s so terrific to have people from Arkansas coming to New York, to California," she said. "It’s like a huge extended family."
She will remain in Arkansas for part of today to do another signing at That Bookstore in Blytheville after touring the Clinton Presidential Library site in Little Rock.
"I’m anxious to see the progress that’s been made firsthand," she said. "I’m so sure that building the library in Arkansas, alongside the river, is going to be a tremendous attraction for tourists all over the world."
The $160 million library and center is to open in November 2004.
So far on her tour, Clinton estimates, she’s signed about 20,000 copies of her memoirs. Writing so many signatures, often in slots of just an hour or two, causes the senator a little pain.
"I plunge it into ice water after I finish a book signing," said Clinton, who also uses an elastic brace on her hand. "I must confess, my signature at the end of the book signing is a little less legible than it was at the beginning." Clinton signed hundreds more books Friday afternoon.
When she walked toward the book-signing table at Sam’s Club, 5-year-old Sophia Speiden called out, "Hi, Hillary Clinton."
Clinton acknowledged the child with a smile and a quick nod. Sophia’s parents, Sherri and Doug, brought Sophia to the book signing to take home a memento.
"Daddy, what did Mrs. Clinton say to me?" Sophia asked, tugging on his shirt.
Her father turned to her and said, "She said you were very cute and that she loved your earrings."
"I got them at a yard sale," said the beaming 5-year-old.
Friday morning, Sam’s Club didn’t hand out the 900 wristbands for Clinton’s signing as quickly as expected.
Fans formed a line at Sam’s at 5:30 a.m. By the time the store began handing out wristbands at 10 a.m., the line snaked around the front of the store.
In an hour the line thinned out, and Sam’s Club employees stood at an unsteady folding table, fumbling with a pile of about 50 extra bright purple wristbands.
"Really, I’m thrilled these are left," said Karyn Larko, a spokesman for the event. "Now people won’t have to wait in the sunshine any longer."
Some of the store’s customers who lined up for wristbands Friday held brightly colored umbrellas to shield them from the heat and sat in beach chairs to save their feet. They were grateful when Sam’s Club gave out bottles of Ozarka water.
"They brought out a whole buggyload," said Nancy Green of Star City, who arrived at the signing at 6:30 a.m. and was at the front of the line.
During the three-hour wait to enter the store, she and her friend Paula Boren chatted about politics and how they believe Clinton will continue to surprise Americans.
"This is history in the making," Boren said. "And since I’m a history teacher, I like to know I was involved in it."
People without wristbands also showed up, forming a separate line. They were a little less talkative but just as political.
"I don’t think the time is right for Clinton to run for president, and I think she knows it," said Denise White of Little Rock. But she added, "She’d be great. She’s not some little cookie cutter."
People without wristbands were able to get their books signed, too.
John and Julia Hall of Arkadelphia drove to Little Rock for the signing. They waited in line for three hours without wristbands but emerged with signed copies.
They said they planned to go out on the town in Little Rock afterward.
"We’re going to celebrate getting the signature," Julia Hall said.
Clinton, wearing a black dress and a blue sweater wrapped around her shoulders, spoke briefly with visitors about how happy she was to be back in Arkansas and to have the support of so many fans.
Outside the store, a small protest looked more like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
Susan Ferguson of Pine Bluff paraded along the sidewalk in a black beret, blue dress and knee pads. She held a sign that said, "Honk if you think Hillary should never run for president."
"I dyed my hair brown for this — I’m actually a redhead," she said. "Had to look like Monica [Lewinsky]."
Ferguson joined about a halfdozen other protesters from freerepublic.com — a Web site that promotes conservative values.
"We don’t like people that lie," she said, "and Hillary’s a pathological liar."
Several drivers honked and screamed at the protesters. Some snapped pictures of Ferguson with Doug Merritt, who sported a Bill Clinton mask and twirled a cigar. Ferguson also set up a display with a black and white striped jail suit and a sign that said, "Hillary’s new pantsuit."
When the final autograph was signed, Jolanda Stewart, a spokesman for Sam’s Club, said about 750 people had come through the store for the signing.
"It’s safe to say she signed 1,100 to 1,200 books," she said.
Some folks told me not to worry, she could not get elected here in NY. Right. I bet many folks stayed home and did not vote because that is what they assumed. What fools too many NYers were on that fateful election eve in 2000 -- the fools who voted for the beast.
I will always remember my frantic candlelight praying and then my thoughts of wanting to murder Matt Drudge as he so early in the day starting claiming that exit polls showed the stale pantsuited bitch with a lead.
But finally the consolation prize was having GWB as president in December, thank goodness. The beast is only shitting on our state to further her bleach blonde poisonous ambitions; unfortunately, there are many fools who voted for her here in NY and many more waiting to do the same nationwide.
Did she regain the Southern accent she had during her infamous Tammy Wynette comment, when she and Bill were running for Prez in '92?
I think she's going to run. God help us.
false pariotism, FALSE PARIOTISM, false????Which rock did you crawl out from under? You cannot smear me (a 6 year US Army veteran) with your snide leftist comment, I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT.
Good job, BTW.
As an ex-pat NYer, I understand and feel your frustration.
Hillary Does Arkansas (Lying History Double-Header After FReep Report)
Her father turned to her and said, "She said you were very cute and that she loved your earrings."
This is just so sad. How completely out of touch is hilly? How much energy would it have taken to give the little girl a, "Hey sweetie!" with a smile?
Perhaps her parents will reflect on how they had to LIE to their daughter. Really, how many five year olds does hilly suppose know her name?
Uh, that's because it is.
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