Snubbed No More, Nebraska Prepares for Clinton Visit

When President Clinton arrives for his first-ever state visit Friday, Saline County wants him to know that he has friends even in this Republican stronghold.

Maybe not many, but a few.

The county is the only one of Nebraska’s 93 that Clinton carried in both of his presidential elections.

“I don’t think I’d want him for a husband and I don’t think I’d want him as a son-in-law, but I think as a president he has done a wonderful job for us,” said Phyllis Johnson, chairwoman of the Saline County Democrats.

She said she has fielded calls from all her Democratic friends wanting to know how they can see the president. The group may drive the 111 miles to hear Clinton speak at the University of Nebraska in Kearney, or 70 miles northeast to Omaha to see him at the airport before he makes his way to a political event.

Details of the trip--the first visit by a U.S. president in 10 years--are still being worked out. Nebraska has been the only state Clinton hasn’t visited while in office.

With Clinton having less than two months left in office, many residents had wondered if he would ever show up. The state Republican Party chairman had even proudly declared the state a “Clinton-free zone.”

On the day the president’s visit was announced, most callers to a Kearney radio program said they were embarrassed that Clinton planned a stop at the town.

Several said they would wear black to protest Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Others said they were proud that Nebraska was the only state Clinton had skipped over and wished it could keep that distinction.

Kearney residents voted overwhelmingly against Clinton in both 1992 and 1996. Surrounding Buffalo County sided with Republicans in 14 of the past 16 presidential elections. The state has gone Republican in 15 of those contests.

An exit poll during the Nov. 7 election indicated that seven of 10 Nebraska voters surveyed said they viewed Clinton unfavorably as a person.

“I don’t favor a man that has the morality of that man in the White House. I couldn’t favor him under any circumstances,” said longtime Democrat William Kottas, 81.