Local Democratic voters know what waiting is all about.
U.S. Rep. John Sweeney has been in Congress for four terms now. Gov. George Pataki was at the helm of the state for 12 years. The last time the Democrats controlled the New York State Senate was in 1964. And it's been six years since President Bill Clinton left The White House, although, to the party faithful, it seems like a lot longer.
Yes, local Democrat voters know what waiting is all about, but they got another taste of the sensation Thursday morning, while waiting for former President Bill Clinton to appear at a rally for Congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand at Albany International Airport.
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But at 10:30, when President Clinton emerged from a door behind the stage, accompanied by Gillibrand, the crowd erupted. Wearing a form-fitting charcoal pinstripe suit, Clinton strolled across the floor, and skipped his way up the steps onto the stage to the strains of U2's anthemic "Beautiful Day" -- now virtually a Democratic campaign theme song -- and all was forgiven.
When the eloquent man himself began to speak in that Arkansas molasses drawl, the crowd laughed with him, cheered for him, frowned with him, and began to get excited about the campaigns being fought around them.
Clinton urged the audience not to give up on Americans, positing that people do agree with the Democratic point of view -- once they consider it -- on everything from the war in Iraq to Social Security.
"They get this," Clinton said. "They do. They're just trying to decide whether they want to go with us."
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Rybak said she thinks the outcome of Gillibrand's campaign in the next two weeks could offer a real turning point to the status of the party throughout the region.
"Sometimes I definitely think that we're few and far between," Rybak said. "I hope she wins, because if she doesn't, I think we're doomed."
Brenda LaClair of Gansevoort, a lifelong Democrat voter, said she wasn't troubled by the perception or reality of upstate New York as a Republican stronghold.
"I believe what I believe," said LaClair, who believes in the congressional campaign of Kirsten Gillibrand. "I think she's got a great shot."
Chris Kelly of Hyde Park (Dutchess County), a big supporter of Gillibrand's, said he got up at 5 a.m. to hear Clinton speak.
"I think having him here is a real indication that they think this is a race we can win," Kelly said.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/10/27/news/doc45418509eb92d723681868.txt
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