Spotted at Clinton Rally: Living Bridge to the 21st Century

I spent much of Wednesday night wondering what to write about when the president came to town on Thursday. I’d just watched him on TV, debating Bob Dole in San Diego, and in little more than 12 hours he was going to be in Santa Ana on the steps of the Old County Courthouse. I went to bed doubting I’d come up with anything new.

Same feeling Thursday morning while wedged in a crowd about 15 deep waiting to pass through metal detectors to see the president. Everywhere I looked, cliches abounded: the supporters hawking buttons for Clinton/Gore, the protesters decrying the ticket (“Stop the Lies,” one sign read), the music from the loudspeakers, some local politicians, the pamphleteers.

Same old same old. Not a fresh idea in sight.

Then, off to my right, I saw the girl with her clipboard, pencil and yellow legal pad. Apparently with her mom and brother, she looked to be about 10. From time to time, she wrote on the pad, and it seemed clear she was chronicling the day she had come to see the president. The only words I could make out appeared to be a title, “The President in Shining Glory,” along with the day’s date--Oct. 17, 1996.

Why not, I thought.

Haven’t both candidates said their campaigns are about the kind of country we want in the 21st century? Haven’t they both talked about young people getting involved?

I suddenly got very curious as to how a presidential visit would look to a 10-year-old. Not wanting to skew the reality, I didn’t approach her until after the president had spoken. When I did, she was willing to surrender her yellow pad to me, and I promised to faithfully reproduce her report for my readers.

First, her bio. Her name is Kristen Brown, but she goes by Krissy. She’s 10 and is a fifth-grader at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa. She was with her mother, Nancy, and 8-year-old brother Brandon, and, after getting the day’s homework assignments from her teacher, got permission to skip school to see the president. Besides doing her assigned homework, she decided on her own to record her observations from the morning.

“I like to write, and poetry, especially,” she said.

This is what she wrote:

“We drive, there’s traffic, the closest spot is the flower shop my mother owns. A lady walks in, asking where the Old Courthouse is. We help out for three minutes, then we walk to the courthouse about 10 blocks.

“We went through metal detectors. The morning fog still hung in the air. At first it was quiet. Then, as people from all directions came together, it got louder. Behind us, the crowd grew. In front it inched forward. We saw the helicopter, it was red, white and blue. We saw a Secret Service person, just like in movies. He had the ear thing! You wonder what it’s like having thousands of people come just to hear you, to see you.

“Finally, we found a spot, in a tree planter. At first, it was boring. They just played songs. Then he came. We clap, the Santa Ana mayor speaks. Clinton looks so proud. Then the president speaks.

“He talked about taxes, jobs and education. Every bit of the way looking presidential. Then two Secret Service guys walked past us. Clinton talked about a vision, a vision for the future. He talked about controlling the government and protecting children.”

That’s where she ended it.

When I introduced myself afterward, she said she wasn’t sure that she would even come. Her mother, who described herself as “not very political,” said she believes, however, that it’s important to expose her children to the political system. She let Krissy, who enjoys school, decide whether she wanted to come or not.

“At first, it was kind of hard to decide,” Krissy said, “but I went to school and everybody said, ‘You get to see the president?’ I said, ‘Yeah, me and 2,000 other people.’ ”

What swayed you, I asked.

“You don’t get a lot of chances to see the president, even if it is with 2,000 other people,” she said.

Uh, it might be stretching it to say that seeing the president has changed her life.

“I’m not into politics all the time,” Krissy said, “but every once in a while, I like to go see what’s happening.”

Fair enough. My lingering image of her and of some other youngsters will be of them standing on the edge of the 3-foot-high planters, trying to get a better look at the president. For whatever reasons, I just know it’s inherently good that 10-year-olds want to see their president. It’s good she thought enough about the moment to write about it.

Later in the day, I phoned Krissy to see if she’d had any other thoughts. Not really, she said, other than the president’s limousine passed them while they were walking back to her mother’s flower shop, and President Clinton waved.

And was she still glad she skipped school to see the president?

Yes, she said, it was the kind of experience she’ll remember.

Besides, she said, totally dead-pan, “I needed a day off anyway.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.