Kalispell enjoys brush with history

Inter Lake editorial

Bill Clinton's visit to Kalispell was noteworthy on at least a couple of counts.

First of all, we hardly ever get a president of the United States visiting here, whether in office or out, despite our excellent reputation for hospitality.

Second, we don't usually get anyone campaigning in Montana during the presidential primary season except the children of the candidates, and occasionally second cousins.

So this was quite an opportunity for local citizens to take part in an event which - regardless of political affiliation - was an all-American celebration of our "small-d" democracy.

President Clinton had his share of critics during his eight years in office, but he also had his share of accomplishments. And for many people in the audience, it was worth waiting in the cold and rain for more than an hour because this was the first time many of them had ever seen a president of the United States in person. After all, there have only been 42 of them in the 200-plus years since George Washington first assumed the office.

Indeed, it is to be hoped that Americans across the board sometime learn to respect the office of the presidency again, rather than treat it like a springboard to late-night comedy gags. We've had good presidents and bad, but we the people are responsible for all of them. Criticize presidents all you want, current and former, but try to do so with an awareness that this is the leader we chose - to do a job that almost none of us would ever want to do.

Clinton's visit on behalf of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, as she battles to survive in her competition with Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, was certainly also a political event - a sign that the Clintons believe they can still win Montana, and the White House.

Hillary's lopsided victory in West Virginia is certain to generate even greater interest in the small delegate count of our state as we approach the June 3 primary, and it would not be a surprise to see visits by either Hillary or Barack to our area in the coming weeks.