Chelsea Clinton stumps for mom

See video of Chelsea Clinton in Cape

Chelsea Clinton brought her mother Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign to Cape Girardeau Sunday night at Grace Cafe. (Fred Lynch)

Chelsea Clinton used a mix of humor and serious political talk delivered in a conversational style to woo supporters for the Democratic presidential campaign of her mother, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, during a Cape Girardeau campaign stop.

Clinton drew an overflow audience of more than 130 to Grace Cafe in Cape Girardeau. Nearly half those attending were forced to stand throughout the event, which took a little more than an hour and addressed audience questions ranging from education and health care to immigration and the war in Iraq.

Early in the event Clinton, 27, stepped away from her microphone and went outside, where about 18 supporters of Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul had gathered to promote their presidential candidate. She invited the Paul supporters inside to ask questions and politely asked them to be quiet enough to allow those inside to hear the questions and her answers.

"I invited them in, but they didn't want to come," Clinton said when she returned to the microphone.

Chelsea Clinton, right, signed a book by her mother, Hillary Clinton, for Brenda Johnson after speaking Sunday night at Grace Cafe. (Fred Lynch)

Of the crowd, more than half raised their hands when asked if they were students at Southeast Missouri State University. Clinton campaign workers are bringing Chelsea Clinton to similar events in several of the 20 states, including Missouri, that will hold primaries or caucuses Feb. 5.

In the most recent Missouri poll, taken last week by Research 2000 for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sen. Clinton held a double-digit lead over her closest rival, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, with former U.S. senator John Edwards of North Carolina trailing.

It was Chelsea Clinton's first visit to Cape Girardeau. She did not accompany her mother and father, then-president Bill Clinton, when they kicked off the 1996 fall campaign season with a bus tour that began in Cape Girardeau.

During the course of her talk, Clinton defended her mother's positions without engaging in any sharp attacks either on Sen. Clinton's Democratic rivals or any Republican by name.

One of the early questioners asked for Clinton's feelings on the constant attacks made on her parents from the right. When the differences are over policy, she said she understands that people are passionate about politics. But when the attacks are personal, she said, she ignores them. "I don't have time to get upset about all the things people say about my parents that aren't true."

At the end of the event, Clinton urged all those in the room, especially the younger voters, to take part in the primaries. She noted that many pundits have professed surprise at the energy shown by voters in their 20s, who traditionally have the lowest turnout rates of any group.

"Please participate and please have your voices heard," she said. "There is a lot of hype about young people participating, and I hope they are right."

As she waited for Clinton, Jessica Loos, a Southeast social studies and education major, sat with Kim Traedey and Donnie Rodgers. Loos, who said she considers herself a Republican, said it would take a strong stand on education issues for her to consider a Democrat.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act, for example, needs to be reformed or scrapped, Loos said. Higher pay for teachers is also a priority, she said. And when she asked Clinton that question, the reply clearly matched her views.

Clinton said the federal measure needs to be fully funded and changed to give states more freedom while making sure schools are accountable for each child's progress, not the progress of a school as a whole. Incentives for teachers to take jobs in underserved areas or to provide more advanced education are part of Sen. Clinton's plan, her daughter said, adding too much emphasis on testing isn't serving education.

"You don't want to just have little test takers in this country," Clinton said.

She also drew cheers from the student-heavy crowd when she said her mother intends to double the size of Pell grants and devise a way to forgive student loans for people going into teaching, health care or other public service professions, such as police officers.

In explaining her mother's health-care plan, Clinton said it is designed to bring people into the regular insurance market. For those who can afford it, the plan available to federal employees will be opened up for purchase. For those who cannot, she said, subsidies would help cover the cost or they would be enrolled in a Medicaid-type plan.

On foreign policy issues, Clinton repeated her mother's pledge to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq within 60 days of taking office. And, on other foreign policy issues, she said her mother "won't wait to be inaugurated to declare two things: One, that the era of cowboy diplomacy is over; and two, we are back in the business of coopering with the world."

The Paul supporters were out in force more than an hour before Clinton arrived at Grace Cafe. For Matthew Gibson, a Southeast student, Paul is the candidate "saying things that are much more historically accurate, while others are sticking to rhetoric."

Clinton left without speaking to reporters. She is traveling with Emily Hawkins, director of youth outreach for the Clinton campaign, who said the coffee-shop and student union venues chosen for Chelsea Clinton are designed to put her with her peers. Many of the college students and recent graduates are close to her age and remember the 12-year-old who went to the White House with her parents in 1993, Hawkins said.

"We have only been doing this for the last couple of weeks," Hawkins said. "It makes the campaign more accessible to young people."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126