Clinton urges students to vote in front of packed Palestra

Former President Bill Clinton spoke to a packed Palestra Monday night to score some last-minute votes for the Democratic Party.

A crowd of 9,300 students and Philadelphia residents waited in a line that wrapped up around Franklin Field and stretched onto the South Street bridge. Those at the beginning of the line waited over two hours to get in, and others who came later were not able to get in.

At 6 p.m. sharp, the former president entered the stage, hugged Mayor Michael Nutter, who introduced him, and waited a few seconds for the applause to die down.

“Are you ready to win an election?” he asked.

The key messages of the rally were to compel students to vote and to bring undecided voters to the polls. “There are still people you can reach between now and when the polls close,” he said.

In his speech, Clinton addressed health care, women’s rights, student loans and immigration issues. He alternated between praising Obama and criticizing Romney.

He discussed legislation passed by Obama that would keep student loans capped at a fixed percentage of income for 20 years. He also lauded the president’s Executive Order allowing undocumented immigrants who moved to the United States as minors to avoid deportation.

Clinton criticized Romney’s plan to cut taxes, saying they would cost a total of $5 trillion.

Philadelphia Rep. Chaka Fattah and former Gov. Ed Rendell, politicians who went to Penn, were among the other speakers at the rally.

Clinton’s appearance at the Palestra was a “testament to his commitment and President Obama’s commitment to young people,” Nutter said to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Wharton senior Matthew Rosenfeld attended as part of Rendell’s Fels Institute of Government class. For him, this was an “historical moment.”

“Romney’s not here talking to students,” he added.

Marjorie Margolies, a Fels professor, former Pennsylvania representative and Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law, took her “Conventions, Debates and Campaigns” class to the rally. Her students, who got front row seats, will be evaluating the speech in class.

Wharton sophomore Patrick Muniz, an undecided voter who attended the speech and took a photo with Clinton afterwards, said the event “made me swing a little more toward Democratic.”

Though it didn’t convince him completely, it showed him that “there is hope for a brighter tomorrow.” He believes Obama’s impact so far has been “rather positive” and returned home to decide who he will vote for.

Clinton’s appearance at Penn was also due to an intensifying Pennsylvania race in recent weeks, according to political science professor Rogers Smith.

“Pennsylvania has very little early voting, unlike a number of other states, and the polls show that the race has tightened here, though Obama is still ahead,” he said in an email. “So it’s important to shore up the Democratic vote.”

The Democratic Party may also have wanted to secure its stronghold in Philadelphia. “Clinton’s appearance largely is due to the fact that Romney was in Bucks County yesterday and the fact that the Republicans are running lots of advertisements today before Election Day,” political science professor Marc Meredith said in an email.

Penn Democrats President and College junior Andrew Brown also spoke at the rally. “I’m ecstatic about the way the event went,” he said. Though the event was sponsored by Obama for America, Penn Dems helped coordinate the rally.

As a result of the event, Brown said Penn Dems was able to sign up more volunteers for election efforts.

College and Wharton junior Abe Sutton, who will be voting for Mitt Romney, attended the rally because he believes Clinton is an inspirational speaker and “someone worthy of respect.”

Clinton’s appearance at Penn “shows that it’s going to be a tight race to the end,” Sutton said.

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