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Election 2014

Bill Clinton campaigns for Dan Maffei in Syracuse, urges rally attendees to vote

UPDATED: Oct. 23, 9:37 p.m.

Bill Clinton stepped to the stage just after 6 p.m. on Friday and immediately fit right in with the Syracuse crowd.

“I love it here,” he said of the city. “Before Hillary got that traveling job, she was your Senator. We came up to the State Fair every year. I probably consumed more Dinosaur Bar-B-Que than anyone.”

Clinton spoke to a crowd of around 750 people at a hangar near Syracuse Hancock International Airport to rally support for U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei (D-Syracuse). Clinton was the 42nd U.S. president and served from Jan. 20, 1993 to Jan. 20, 2001. The president spoke for around 24 minutes.

Maffei, the incumbent, is in a tight race with Republican challenger John Katko for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Election Day is on Nov. 4. Clinton also campaigned for Maffei during the 2012 and 2010 election cycles. Vice President Joe Biden spoke on behalf of Maffei on Monday, focusing his talk on strengthening the middle class and improving higher education.



“When you start the work week with the sitting Vice President and end the work week with President Bill Clinton, it is true that the eyes of the nation are upon us,” said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.

Clinton focused his speech on the need to rebuild the middle class. He also urged attendees, including Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Dean James Steinberg, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor under Clinton, to vote and encouraged them to urge others to vote as well.

“The only problem he’s (Maffei) got is all over America, a different electorate shows up in presidential years compared to non-presidential years,” Clinton said. “In an off-year election, the vote goes down and most of the people that stop voting are our people.”

Clinton said the race between Maffei and Katko would not be close “if the same people who voted for the president two years ago vote for Congress 10 days from now.”

New York state assemblyman Al Stripe, who represents Assembly District 127, was the first speaker of the afternoon, taking the stage around 4:55 p.m. Stripe said that the reason he got married is because of Clinton.

“We (he and his wife) started going out in the summer of ’92 during the campaign and we were the only two people in our group who knew anything about President Clinton,” he said. “We sort of broke up for three or four months and the day of the election, he won and she called me up and we talked and the rest was history.”

Other local politicians, including assemblyman Sam Roberts, who represents Assembly District 128, spoke at the “Strengthening the Middle Class” Get Out The Vote Rally.

“It’s so important we get the vote out,” Roberts said. “We get the vote out we…”

“Win,” was the crowd’s response.

Abby Davidson Maffei, Dan Maffei’s wife, introduced Clinton and her husband and talked about women’s rights.

“When women succeed, central New York succeeds and America succeeds,” she said. Abby Maffei joked about her husband changing diapers for their newborn daughter, Maya, before introducing him and Clinton to the stage.

Maffei and Clinton walked on stage together and after a few minutes with the crowd cheering, Maffei spoke about Clinton’s history and the importance of strengthening the middle class.

“We must create jobs. We must grow our economy. We must strengthen the middle class,” he said. “President Clinton is one of the greatest leaders of our time. Under his watch, we had historic economic growth and our middle class grew.”

Maffei concluded his speech, which was around eight minutes long, by again encouraging attendees to get out the vote, saying, “Be the change you want to see in this country. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.”

Clinton said that rebuilding the middle class is a better option than trickle-down economics and that building the country “from the middle out” is what this election is about.

Clinton said the U.S. is better positioned than any other country in the world to make the most of everyone’s calling, citing “great universities like Syracuse,” which drew a loud applause from the crowd.

“The most important thing is that you vote and the only way you can get other people to vote is if they understand what this election is about and what the stakes are,” Clinton said.

Clinton discussed how Maffei is “anxious to do the job every day” and compared American values to the values of every community.

“He (Maffei) practically shakes when he talks about you (Maffei’s district),” Clinton said. “In every fiber of his being, all he wants to do is do the job.” Clinton went on to say that Maffei “has earned re-election.”

The president also spoke about current events, including ISIS and the Ebola crisis, and said he was proud of New York City’s handling of the Ebola crisis.

Clinton said the U.S. is in a good position going forward and said the election “is about your future.”

Said Clinton: “We’re finally in a position where we don’t have to worry about digging out of a hole. We now have a chance to plot the future.”





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