By Khalida Sarwari
Former President Bill Clinton appealed to a young crowd of thousands in San Jose tonight to vote for a democratic ticket in the upcoming election, indicating that their academic future depended on it.
The rally, organized by the California Democratic Party, was held at San Jose State University and drew a crowd of nearly 6,000, many of them students. They filled the bleachers and floor beneath the stage, waving campaign posters and chanting the names of the candidates.
Clinton made an appearance in San Jose to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, candidate for lieutenant governor.
“California has always been a state of the future,” Clinton said. “You have never had a chance to vote for a ticket of people who have done more in their lifetime, in their total service, to build a future.”
He said the state’s future depends upon improving education, creating a source of new jobs, and renewable energy production.
Clinton and Brown both criticized Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s record-breaking spending in the campaign and her plan to repeal the capital gains tax.
“I watched Jerry Brown hold down spending… I watched him do it as mayor of Oakland and turn around Oakland. I watched him balance the budget in the attorney general’s office,” Clinton said. “Every time he’s ever had a job like this, he’s held down costs and increased benefits.”
Brown said he had “know-how, values and vision” to place him a step above Whitman, whom he said lacks the necessary experience for the job.
Newsom, who opened the program and introduced Brown, spoke against tuition increases and Proposition 23, and also covered health care and employment in his speech.
“We need stretch goals in this state,” he said. “We need demonstrated leaders who have delivered in this state.”
Clinton discussed the student aid initiative, a recently passed bill that he said would make it possible for students to repay loans as a small fixed percentage of their income for up to 20 years. He said republicans have pledged to repeal the bill.
“I’m telling you your future is on the line,” Clinton said. “Vote republican, we will raise the price of going to college, we will make it harder for you to repay your student loan and we will increase the debt by $60 billion.”
He urged students to use social networking websites to encourage others to vote for Brown and Newsom in the Nov. 2 election.
Following the rally, Abraham Guizar, a 30-year-old San Jose resident and 2006 graduate of San Jose State, said Clinton’s speech, especially his message about the issue of loan repayments and using various tools of communication to vote, most resonated with him.
“I thought it was a great message — to rally your friends to go out and vote,” Guizar said.
Another attendee, Debra Shanley, a 57-year-old Fremont resident, said she had come to support Newsom.
“I think he’s forward thinking.” Shanley said, adding, “I’m glad he’s here to support Jerry Brown. The choices that we have right now… there is no way that I would support Meg Whitman. Corporate culture does not cross over to politics.”