Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
As a result of one of the closest presidential primaries in recent times, former President Bill Clinton will be in Havre Tuesday campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in her bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. The stop, with Bill Clinton scheduled to be at the gymnasium at Montana State University-Northern Tuesday morning, is likely the first time a current or former president has been in Havre since President Truman stopped in town on a train tour of the West in 1952. “I can’t even believe it,” said Debi Freide, chair of the Hill County Democratic Party, adding that she has been getting calls from party leaders up and down the Hi-Line. “I’ve been getting phone calls from Glasgow.” A representative of Montana State University- Northern said the event is still being planned the decision to hold it at Northern wasn’t made until last night with ongoing meetings including those with local law enforcement to discuss security. The doors are scheduled to open at 9:45 a.m. with Bill Clinton exepectd to arrive between 10:15 and 10:30 a.m. There is no charge for the event and no tickets will be sold, and admission will be on a firstcome- first-serve basis. “I am thrilled that MSU-Northern has been selected on behalf of the community of Havre as the site for the visit of a former president,” Northern Interim Chancellor Rolph Groseth said in a press release. The race for the democratic nomination is so tight Montana is receiving more attention in the primary than it has in decades. With some nine delegates still not awarded in the primary in Texas over the weekend, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in a tight race, 1624 to 1499, The Associated Press reported this morning. To win the primary, the candidate must win 2,024 delegates. About 10 primaries are still to be conducted Montana’s, with 24 delegates at stake, is June 3 and about 300 superdelegates are also yet to be awarded. The campaigning in Montana will come to a head this weekend when Sens. Clinton and Obama join Montana’s Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) at the annual Mansfield-Metcalf dinner Saturday at the Butte Civic Center. The Montana Democratic Party said this morning that the event, which was upgraded from its traditional 600 seats to 4,000 seats, is sold out. The Havre stop is just the start of the day for Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak at Expo Park in Great Falls at 1 p. m. He then is scheduled to speak at Helena High School at 3:30 p.m. and at Butte High School at 5:45 p.m.
