BY HOWARD WILKINSON and JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
President Clinton is greeted at the airport by Mayor Roxanne Qualls, right, and other Tristate Democrats: from left, Michael Coleman, candidate for lieutenant governor; John Donofrio, Ohio treasurer candidate, and Councilmen Tyone yates and Todd Portune.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
|
AMBERLEY VILLAGE
- President Clinton warmed up an exclusive Democratic Party fund-raiser on a frigid Tuesday night by saying his administration had ''a thousand things to do'' in the next three years of his presidency.
Mr. Clinton raised nearly $1 million for Democratic Party coffers at an exclusive backyard fund-raiser Tuesday night at the home of lawyer Stanley M. Chesley.
In a lavish prime-rib dinner attended by about 100 party donors, a hoarse-voiced president told the crowd that had paid a minimum of $10,000 a couple that his agenda included passing ''a comprehensive agreement to settle this tobacco situation.''
The agreement is of particular interest to Mr. Chesley, a prominent class-action lawyer with an interest in getting congressional approval for a massive tobacco litigation settlement.
Mr. Clinton also said he wants to pass a patient bill of rights and get legislation through Congress that would lower class sizes in public schools.
The president said he hoped the audience was there for the right reasons.
''I hope you're not here just because the economy's good and my numbers are high,'' he said. ''I hope you are here because you support the principles that we believe in.''
By the numbers
In about five hours in the Tristate, President Clinton raised nearly $1 million dollars for the Democratic Party.
About 80 guests paid $10,000 each to attend the dinner with the president.
There were 30 vehicles in the presidential motorcade.
Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls met privately with Mr. Clinton for three minutes on board Air Force One.
A dozen protesters greeted the motorcade outside the DHL complex. At least 50 other protesters staked out the president¹s route to the Amberley Village fund-raiser.
|
The dinner, aimed at helping the Democratic National Committee dig out of its multimillion-dollar debt, was held in a large heated tent in the back yard of Mr. Chesley's home on Belkay Lane.
During the dinner, heaters were blowing warm air into the tent to try to keep the temperature at 70 degrees, but as the president began to speak, Mr. Chesley ordered them turned off so Mr. Clinton could be heard.
Mr. Clinton, who has had Mr. Chesley as a frequent guest at the White House, joked with his audience about the tent and the lavish dinner.
''I'm glad to be here at Stan's home and here in this tiny little tent that kind of reminds me of how I used to go camping out as a boy with my sleeping bag.''
Mr. Chesley presented the president with a ''Camp Belkay'' T-shirt, which he said is like ones he gives to the neighborhood children who use his swimming pool every summer.
''And I want the press to know that this shirt cost less than $12,'' said Mr. Chesley.
The Cincinnati lawyer said he was also sending along some mango ice cream for the president to take back with him aboard Air Force One.
President Clinton steps out of Air Force One with Mayor Qualls, who talked privately with him for a few minutes after he arrived.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
|
In his brief remarks, Mr. Clinton credited the successes of his administration, such as reducing unemployment and keeping inflation down, to ''our simple plan to come to Washington and work for the American people.''
''I hope you will ask yourselves the same question that I have asked myself every day I have been your president,'' Mr. Clinton said. ''And the question is, what kind of country do I want this to be when we reach the millennium?''
The president made no mention of a special prosecutor's investigation into whether he had an affair with a former White House intern and tried to cover it up.
Mr. Clinton, in his second visit to Cincinnati since he became president, arrived by motorcade at the Chesley residence at 7:55 p.m. He left about 9:45 p.m. and departed for Washington at 10:35 p.m.
Unlike his appearance in March 1996 at Xavier University, this trip was strictly political. There were no public appearances during his five hours and 45 minutes in Cincinnati.
Reporters were kept at a distance from the home, but a parade of limousines, sport-utility vehicles and luxury cars dropped off passengers before the presidential motorcade arrived.
Security was extremely tight around the residence. At least a dozen police departments helped the Secret Service keep traffic away from the house on Belkay Lane. Sharpshooters with nightscopes were visible on the Chesley property. Agents moved spotlights around the yard.
Mr. Clinton arrived in the Tristate about 4:50 p.m., when Air Force One landed at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in a snow squall and 30-mph winds.
As soon as the ramp was pulled up to the front door of the plane, Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 1st District, went inside and met privately with the president for about three minutes.
The president's motorcade arrives at the Regal Hotel downtown, where he stayed for about two hours before going to Stanley Chesley's house.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
| ZOOM |
|
The president's plane had been on the ground for less than five minutes before the 30-vehicle motorcade made its way onto Interstate 275 for the 10-minute ride downtown.
Traffic on I-275 and I-75 was shut down while the motorcade made its way downtown, backing up rush-hour traffic in and out of Northern Kentucky.
About a dozen sign-waving protesters greeted the motorcade as it left the airport, with most of the signs making mention of the controversy over Mr. Clinton's alleged affair with former white House intern Monica Lewinsky.
''Stop lying to the American people,'' one sign read.
The motorcade snaked up Main Street to Fourth Street and on to Elm Street, where it stopped at the Regal Cincinnati Hotel, where the president was scheduled for about two hours of what the White House press office described as ''private time.''
The president's motorcade left the hotel about 7:20 p.m. for a 15-minute ride to Mr. Chesley's home on a normally quiet cul-de-sac.
Traffic was shut down on northbound I-75 as the motorcade made its way to Amberley Village, using as an approach a route named after one of Mr. Clinton's predecessors - the Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway.
Scott Phillips of Ripley, Ohio, left, and other protesters gathered on Ridge Road across from Belkay Lane.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
| ZOOM |
|
As the motorcade turned into the village from Ridge Road, the president was greeted by about 30 anti-abortion protesters. Hundreds of cheering and waving supporters filled driveways and front yards on Ridge Road as the motorcade passed.
At the end of Belkay Lane, a group of about 25 protesters stood in the bitter cold.
They carried all kinds of signs: ''Abortion is Murder,'' ''Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!'' ''Chinagate, Filegate, Travelgate, Bimbogate, Clintongate.''
Joann Davis of Murphy, N.C., said she planned to visit her son in Cincinnati and came to protest when she heard of the visit.
''My main reason for being out here is because it seems like the people don't care that the president is committing adultery and lying. We'd like him to know there are people who do care. And there is a much higher authority than Hillary that has the last say on it.''
Scott Phillips of Ripley, Ohio, a Desert Storm veteran, carried a life-sized cutout of Mr. Clinton with a box drawn from his mouth that read, ''Everybody's lying but me.''
He said: ''I'm a Christian, and I think what Bill Clinton is doing is wrong. America needs a leader who is a man of his word. Bill Clinton is not. The president doesn't reflect the values of the average American.''
Michael Gerson and his daughter Alana, 11, of Amberley Village, also came to see the president, but they were supportive.
''Yes, we're in the minority here (among protesters), but when it comes to the polls, we're in the majority and that's all that counts.''
Matt Vehan, 17, of Amberley Village, stood for close to an hour, shivering and shaking, with no coat, just a sweat shirt. He decided at the last minute to see the president. ''Check out the opportunity of a lifetime. This is awesome.''
The president waves as he boards the plane for his return to Washington.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
|
Mr. Chesley would not discuss the guest list, but said he invited friends from several Ohio cities, including Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, as well as friends and business associates from places as far away as Puerto Rico and Louisiana.
''I've been in this business for 37 years and I've made a lot of good friends,'' Mr. Chesley said. ''That's who was here tonight.''
Mr. Chesley is among the elite of Democratic fund-raisers. Two years ago, Mr. Chesley hosted events in Cincinnati that raised well over $1 million for the party. Those events featured the president, Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore.
Federal campaign finance reports show that Mr. Chesley gave $140,000 personally to federal candidates and the party in the last election cycle.
His largesse on behalf of the DNC has earned Mr. Chesley easy access to the president. Mr. Chesley has been a frequent guest in the Clinton White House.
For the past year, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore have crisscrossed the country attending fund-raising events similar to the one Mr. Chesley hosted.
Visit with Chesley criticized
Caravan draws gawkers
Clinton: Fix is in for Buddy
