Kurt Mitman | Love me some Bubba!

Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the Palestra last night in front of a capacity crowd. I didn’t actually get a chance to hear him because, well, the event reached its capacity. After waiting an hour and a half in the cold, hundreds of us were turned away.

This is not the first time I’ve waited around in the cold for Bill. In January 1994, I spoke with Bill on the tarmac in front of Air Force One at the Moscow Airport. He noticed that I was wearing a 49ers jacket and asked me how they were doing in the playoffs. We proceeded to discuss who we thought would win the Super Bowl.

I was 11 years old and the President of the United States made me feel as though I was the most important person he could be talking to at that moment.

Bill certainly has a gift, that’s why I wasn’t surprised when I was turned away last night. Despite the scandals and impeachment that scarred his presidency, Bill is still a popular force to be reckoned with. What makes him relevant is that he’s so human.

I’ve never met Barack or Mitt, but after watching hours of debates, speeches and ads over the past five years, I can’t imagine either of them holds a candle to Bill’s charm.

But why does that even matter? Shouldn’t ideas trump charisma?

In a representative democracy, we yearn for leaders who care about us and understand what we want. But candidates take positions on so many different issues that we’re bound to disagree with some of them.

Once candidates take office, they often have to make compromises to get things done. This makes it almost impossible to predict how candidates will act simply based on their campaigns.

But if there’s a candidate who we think understands us at a deeper level, we don’t have to focus on the minutiae of their platform. We trust that when the compromise needs to be made, the candidate will weigh the pros and cons as we would and arrive at a solution that we can live with.

Between November and December 1995, I remember tuning in to watch Bill and Newt spar over the budget. I remember sensing that the president was fighting for a vision of this country closely tied to his beliefs while Newt was just attempting to flex his political muscles.

I was happy that I got to spend winter break with my father, who was on furlough from the government. But I also remember feeling proud that Bill stuck to his guns and stood up to Congress.

Compromise is good, but sometimes, conviction is necessary. The latter is something Barack’s presidency has lacked. It’s what people are yearning for. Rather than moping, he should have stood up to Boehner when we were approaching default.

Mitt is guilty as well — for flip-flopping constantly and making people believe he stands for nothing. We all have our Thermopylae’s to defend and it’s hard to trust a candidate if we can’t see where they draw the line in the sand.

Our country is tired from this marathon campaign. It’s dripping with ennui.

Bill drew crowds because he excites us. I didn’t hear what he had to say, but if the convention is any guide to go by, I’m sure he made a better case for Barack to earn four more years than I’ve heard from the man himself.

But I suspect that part of the excitement comes from another dream — one that will return Bill to the White House four years from now.

When I attended Hillary Clinton’s campaign rally at the Palestra in April 2008, I had no trouble getting a seat. What a difference four years can make. After a kickass term as secretary of state — while Bill has been running around as Barack’s communicator-in-chief — I can sense a new yearning for the Clintons to be back in the White House.

I’m tired of these never-ending campaigns, but hell, let’s get Hillary 2016 started, so we can get excited about something again.

Kurt Mitman is a 6th-year doctoral student from McLean, Va. His email address is kurt.mitman@gmail.com. Follow him @SorryToBeKurt. “Sorry To Be Kurt” appears every other Thursday.

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