CLEAR FORK — Until Monday afternoon, it had been nearly three decades since a presidential candidate made a campaign swing through Wyoming County — where the school system serving just over 4,000 students is among the largest employers in the county. Hillary Clinton changed that with a stop at Westside High School.

While the hoarseness in her voice indicated the strains of campaigning, her enthusiasm remained strong.

“I think it probably meant a great deal to people in this area that someone like her came here,” emphasized Don Kidd, who grew up in Wyoming County and now lives in Richmond, Ky.

“I’m honored to have Hillary in Wyoming County,” noted Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming. “This speaks volumes about who she cares about — the small town people.

“She wants to undo all the wrongs that have been done in the last eight years,” Browning said.

During his introduction of Clinton, Browning noted that when her husband, Bill, was president, gasoline was $1 a gallon and the country enjoyed record surpluses.

“We’re going to send someone to the White House that is going to help us,” he said to a cheering crowd.

“West Virginia made it possible for John Kennedy to become president in 1960,” Clinton said.

She noted Kennedy, like herself, did not have the required number of delegates necessary to win the party nomination.

“It’s a fact, you don’t get elected president without the votes of the people of West Virginia,” she said.

“If you will work for me in tomorrow’s election, I will work my heart out for you,” she promised the cheering crowd.

Over the course of nearly 40 minutes, Clinton reiterated her desire to address the economy and the “outrageous gas prices,” provide health care for every citizen, and improve education and assist families in paying for college.

The next president has two wars to end, she noted, the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.

“President Bush is borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Saudis,” she said.

Clinton pledged to get the country back on track and pay down the $9 trillion deficit.

“Government has to live within its means,” Clinton said, just as families do.

She predicted gas will be $4 a gallon by June and $5 a gallon by July and blames traders speculating on the energy commodity for the escalating prices. She pledged to investigate the inflated prices and regulate the industry, if she is elected.

She also pledged to end No Child Left Behind, a federal education initiative that requires students to meet performance assessments through a complicated system of tests, scoring and percentages.

“We can do better,” Clinton said. “I don’t believe that one size fits all.”

For those who do not attend college — “those who build our buildings and mine our coal” — Clinton wants more apprenticeships and job training programs so people can obtain the necessary skills for good-paying jobs.

She also wants to offer better ways to fund college educations so students, and families, will not have long-term debts.

“I was impressed,” noted Jeff Brewer of Pineville, “that she had so much knowledge of the local issues.”

— E-mail:

mcbrooks@register-herald.com