Published: May 09, 2008 10:03 pm         

Concord crowd welcomes Bill Clinton at rally

ATHENS — With rallying chants of “We want Bill,” a packed gymnasium at Concord University welcomed former President Bill Clinton Thursday night.

The visit was one of five events Clinton participated in Thursday to promote the candidacy of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, for president.

“I read up on the school a little bit as I was driving through the West Virginia mountains in a very hard rain,” he said. “We live in a highly independent world where it is necessary to seek as much concord as possible, but it is only possible if America works the way it should work.”

During the rally, Clinton mentioned the problem of college students dropping out because of a fear of getting into debt. He said his wife believes for students who serve the public, their service should repay their loans.

“This is crazy that students are dropping out of college,” he said. “A college education is worth way over a million dollars over a lifetime.”

Another problem, Clinton said, is the concern about recession.

“Most people think we are in recession and have flat income and rising costs,” he said. “Hillary has proposed a start with 8 million jobs that cannot be outsourced. This will produce energy efficiency and provide jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

Also a concern, he said, is making the country more energy efficient. He said he believes corn is not the way to go because it is “inefficient.” Instead, he said, there is a way to close the landfills by using garbage to make bio-fuels or to generate electricity. Also, he mentioned that fuel-efficient cars should be more readily available.

“You can clean up the environment, create jobs, help to save the planet and lower people’s electric bills in this way.”

For health insurance, he said Hillary supports a plan in which citizens can buy the same plan that insures federal employees and members of Congress use if they are unable to afford their current plan.

“This is the only high-income country in the entire world where people cannot afford health care,” he said. “Every other country has found a way to provide health care to everyone for more affordable prices.”

Brooke Wills, freshman at Concord, was one of the many students who attended. The event, she said, was informative.

“I learned more about Hillary’s stance on things. I thought it was good that he focused more on that instead of other candidates,” she said. “I thought it was a great opportunity for Concord students to learn from a former president.”