Published: May 07, 2008 09:24 pm            

Bill brings Clinton campaign to Mercer County

ATHENS — President Bill Clinton will be at a “Solutions for America” event in Athens tonight as part of a five-city West Virginia tour for his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The event will be held at 8 p.m. at the Carter Center Gym at Concord University in Athens.

Clinton’s visit to Mercer County will be the first by a president since George H.W. Bush visited the Brushfork Armory in 2002 when his son George W. Bush was campaigning for the nation’s top office.

The hard-fought race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination marks the first time in more than four decades that West Virginia voters have had a chance to play a part in the pick of a presidential candidate.

The last occasion was in 1960, and it was during that campaign when John F. Kennedy spoke at the Mercer County Courthouse and the Glenwood Park 4-H Camp, said Emilie Holroyd, a long-time Democratic activist.

“That was the last time we had a voice” in electing the Democratic nominee, Holroyd said. “We really darn near nominated him (Kennedy). West Virginia was key.”

According to the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, a Chartered Research Center of The George Washington University, Kennedy appeared to be the early favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination, but Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert H. Humphrey, and Adlai Stevenson all remained strong rivals.

“The West Virginia primary, held on May 10, 1960, proved to be a decisive battleground in the race,” according to the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers website. “Kennedy, who had not faced serious opposition in the other primaries, suddenly faced a serious challenge from Hubert Humphrey, the junior senator from Minnesota. In order to secure his party’s nomination, Kennedy had to win West Virginia’s delegates. Losing would effectively take the decision off the convention floor and throw it into the hands of the Democratic Party’s powerful urban bosses, a development JFK was anxious to avoid because they would favor more seasoned party elders.”

“He took out Hubert Humphrey here,” Holroyd said. “It was exciting.”

Holroyd said other notable figures to visit Mercer County have included Eleanor Roosevelt, during the 1950s, Jack Kennedy in the spring of 1960 and Bobby Kennedy.

“Judge Howard Jarrett introduced him (Bobby Kennedy) at the court house and there was a huge crowd to see him,” Holroyd recalled. “That was not long before he was assassinated.”

Holroyd described the current race between Hillary Clinton and Obama as “exciting.”

“This campaign has revitalized the Democratic party,” she said.

The “Solutions for America” event at Concord University is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.