On the Hillary Trail

December 29, 2007  --  Got something to say?
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Our Town By Jon MelegritoBy Jon Melegrito
IOWA - Its a bleak mid-morning in Des Moines, one Saturday in December. A 12-car motorcade pulls out of a downtown diner, cruising with breakneck speed into Interstate 35. The adrenalin rush is making me nervous and giddy. Im driving a 15-seater van loaded with national correspondents, TV news reporters, photographers and bloggers. They are quietly filing their reports on cell phones and laptops while I try to calmly clear a fast-falling wintry mix with defective windshield wipers, revving the engine at 80 miles per hour to keep up with the Secret Service. These guys dont mess around when they bark in your face: Were running a little late, so well be gunning it, the agent with dark glasses gruffly tells me. We could go up to 90, so make sure to keep up.”

I nod and I smile in a wince. With sirens blaring, the lead car burns rubber on icy asphalt for about 45 miles. I keep both hands on the wheel, maintaining speed while keeping distance at two-car lengths. What if I skidded into a snow embankment and got left behind? I shuddered. This is even more scary than driving by myself through a rain storm across Louisiana two summers ago, on the eve of Hurricane Rita.

After half an hour, we slow down as we exit to a heavily-salted gravel road. Sigh of relief. Suddenly we stop in the middle of nowhere. Im awed by the pure white landscape around us, where months earlier wheat and corn grew in abundance. Were four minutes early, Im told. Stay in your vehicle. Its a good time to catch my breath and try to relax, but I cant. Im thinking Id rather be door knocking in Ames, where AFSCME (my union) assigned me to. But todays mission - a special request from the Hillary campaign - was hard to turn down. It sounded like fun. So I volunteered, not knowing exactly what I was in for.

Its 11 degrees in Winterset. We move out shortly and pull into an airport hangar where more than a hundred townsfolk are gathered, waiting to size up The Candidate. After 15 minutes, Hillary Clinton walks in with her 88-year-old mother and 27-year-old daughter, Chelsea. The frigid warehouse heats up with warm, enthusiastic applause.

Hillary strides confidently to center stage. One feels her warmth up close. She speaks to a hand-held microphone. About health care and education, about the growing social and economic inequality, about working families struggling to pay their bills, and about changing the reality in peoples lives so they will achieve the American dream.

She also spells out details of her sub-prime bailout plan, calling for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and a five-year freeze on the interest rates of adjustable rate mortgages. Seated in the audience is a 54-year-old Filipino American, Mira Perez Imes, a resident of this rural community. She likes what shes hearing and she nods approvingly. A loan officer with Wells Fargo, Mira tells me later that shes been worried about being laid off by the bank because of all the prepayment penalties on mortgages. Her husband, Marvin - a retired factory worker - has to work part time at a local grocery store so they can make both ends meet. My second son, Jess, may have to drop out of college because we arent making enough,” she says. Our youngest son, Gary, is still in high school but were worried about college costs for him, too.” The eldest, Marycar, has moved out of the house and is working in Des Moines. Its been tough the last six years, she adds.
A native of Cebu, Mira settled 25 years ago in Winterset, where her husband once owned a farmily farm. They met in her hometown while he was touring the Philippines in 1981. They got married a year later. She goes home every two years, socializes with some Filipinos in Des Moines during holidays and special events, and shops for native ingredients at the Filipino Store located in a downtown mall.

But listening to Hillary on this frigid Saturday has given her hope for the future. I voted for the first time in 1992 and we were so much better off then, during Bill Clintons presidency,” Mira recalls.”I know Hillary would do just as well, maybe even better.”

Mira has made up her mind and is going to caucus for Hillary on Jan. 3. Iowas caucuses - the first in the nation that will launch the presidential nominating season - are far different from a traditional primary. They are essentially neighborhood meetings in all of the states 2,000 precincts where voters publicly declare their preferences and discuss with their neighbors why their candidate is the best. Women voters hold the key to Iowas caucuses, and Mira knows it. I see Hillary as the one most concerned about families like us,” Mira explains, and I know that she will make those changes that will give us job security and access to affordable health care.”

Hillary ends with a stirring message that prompts Mira to stand up and cheer: We need a president who wakes up every morning thinking about whats really going on in America. We need to lead again with our values so we can be proud of our country.”

Mira tries to get as close as she can to the candidate hoping for a picture, but the secret service agents are in a crowd-control mode. At least I got to shake her hand and wish her well, she smiles. Im just delighted to meet the woman who will be the next president of the United States.”

I rush back into the press van for the motorcades next stop, a two-hour drive to Williamsburg. The snow is falling hard now. I say my prayers as we speed back into the interstate, confident that with Hillarys car at the lead, we can make it through Iowas snow, sleet and freezing rain.

E-mail your comments to jonmele@aol.com

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