My reflections from the 2013 Presidential Campaign
by Miles Phillips, Ohio National Guard Youth
There are a handful of wonderful speakers that every person in my generation should hear. One of those people is President Bill Clinton. He is known to have great persuasion and connection with the audience. People also say he never forgets a name or a face. So when I got the news that the President Clinton was coming to my home town to represent President Obama I knew I had to cover that story.
I live in one of the biggest county’s in Ohio. It is also one of the poorest. So there are a lot of people in Chillicothe who think President Obama has failed us. So I wasn’t surprised to see so many people there. As I was checking in I noticed how quiet it was in the Shoemaker Center. People were still walking in so I thought it was nothing. When they closed the doors it was still quiet. This was new to me. No one chanting or waving there signs. They were not showing any emotion, just being quiet and that’s odd for a large crowd.
Governor Ted Strickland introduced President Clinton just like he introduced President Obama for my last event. I was excited to hear the Governor speak because he did such a good job last time. When the Governor comes out and the crowd lightens up and they cheer to greet him. As he started speaking everything sounded familiar. Everything he said was something I heard him say before. When the time came for President Clinton to come out the venue filled with music but the crowed was still like “unemotional”. Governor Ted Strickland gave him an introduction. President Bill Clinton came out and smiled. That was it. That smile made the crowed do a 360. It’s like it gave the crowed hope. I could tell all President Clinton said was coming from the heart. It wasn’t what his PR team told him to say it was Bill’s words. He said “No one should worrying about dropping out of college”. Being 16 and having to start thinking about colleges this issue is very big for me and my generation.
President Clinton also said “Who are you picking Ohio? Do you realize how serious this is?” This to me was the most interesting thing he said. This election is so serious and so close there is no way anyone can make a call. There is also so much on the line for America for this election.
I also had a brief interview with the Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Yvette McGee Brown. She was so nice. I told her about the program I was with and what I have been doing and she was really impressed. I asked her, “What more do you think could be offered towards Military kids and there education?” Her answer “I never took the time to really think about this but I do now understand this is an issue, I feel like we need to focus on counseling, mentoring and community support.” She was very nice enough to give me her time. She is running for reelection into the Supreme Court for Ohio.