For the Long Run: Clinton and longtime friend Angelou sit, have a chat about issues the nation and voters face

Sen. Hillary Clinton and the poet Maya Angelou chatted about everything from global diversity to global trade in a meandering public conversation at Wake Forest University last night.

It was Clinton's second campaign appearance in Winston-Salem in less than a month. But this time, she did not give her regular stump speech.

Clinton and Angelou sat on the stage at the university's Wait Chapel, talking informally about bridging inequalities in the 21st century, among other broad themes. Along the way, they also mixed in bits of policy issues from Clinton's presidential platform.

"Letting go of not only the heavy burden of ignorance, but of prejudice and discrimination, sexism as well as racism, has never been so possible, or so necessary, as it is today," Clinton said. "And what is exciting and, for me, humbling is that this contest that I'm engaged in with Sen. Obama exemplifies that. Neither of us were written into the Constitution."

Clinton and Barack Obama are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination and are fighting for votes in North Carolina, which will hold its primary May 6. Obama campaigned in Raleigh and Greenville on Thursday.

Averell "Ace" Smith, who is managing Clinton's campaign in North Carolina, said yesterday that Winston-Salem and the surrounding area will be critical in the primary, because the area includes a large, diverse group of both urban and rural voters.

Smith said that Clinton is not focusing on Winston-Salem over any other area of the state. Clinton has made four campaign stops in the state so far, and two of them have been in Winston-Salem. (The other two have been in Raleigh and Fayetteville.) She also mentioned Winston-Salem by name in her first TV ad in North Carolina, and filmed another TV ad while she was in Winston-Salem yesterday.

Smith, however, said he rejects strategies that emphasize any geographic region, or any demographic category, over any other.

"By the time we're done, she's going to be in every corner of the state," Smith said. "Basically, our philosophy of targeting voters is to target every voter."

Last month, in Clinton's first appearance in Winston-Salem, she gave a rousing speech, full of policy details, at Forsyth Technical Community College. Yesterday's conversation at Wake Forest, in front of more than 2,000 people, mostly students, offered a rare chance to see a more personal side of Clinton.

Alongside her was Angelou, the acclaimed poet and novelist who is a professor at Wake Forest and enjoys celebrity status on its campus. Her conversation with Clinton came one day before a planned celebration by the city of Winston-Salem to honor Angelou's 80th birthday. The party is being held at Corpening Plaza beginning at 1 p.m.

Angelou, who has deep ties to the Clintons, endorsed Clinton early on in her race against Obama, and she said last night that she has had her eye on Clinton for more than 20 years, ever since she became first lady of Arkansas.

"I know that Sen. Clinton is a long-distance runner," Angelou said last night. "And however the odds may go and the polls may show -- from today, to tonight, to tomorrow morning -- I know she's in it for the long run. I am honored to say I am with her for the long run."

Clinton called Angelou "a grace note in our lives" and fondly recalled reading her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Prodded by Angelou, Clinton also talked about her plan to make college more affordable and about her efforts, during her husband's administration, to unite Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. And Clinton said she wants to ease economic inequality by revising America's free-trade practices and eliminating incentives for companies that move jobs overseas.

Earlier in the day, the local Teamsters union in Greensboro held a press conference in front of the shuttered Hanes mill on Stratford Road to criticize Clinton on the issue of trade. The national Teamsters union has endorsed Obama.

Chip Roth, a spokesman for the Teamsters, said in a phone interview that Clinton has been hypocritical on trade. During her presidential run, she has sharply criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement, but Bill Clinton helped write NAFTA and some people say that Hillary Clinton initially supported it -- or at least did not actively oppose it, as she has claimed.

Clinton said last night that trade policies that encourage outsourcing are "fundamentally unpatriotic," and she said that her economic policies would put a renewed focus on manufacturing as well as promote green energy.

After her conversation with Angelou, Clinton took three questions from the audience. The crowd was audibly stunned by one of them.

"I love you, Hillary. I always have, I always will," said a woman in the first row. That drew approving cheers.

But then she brought up the most taboo of all taboos at Clinton campaign events.

"I felt so sorry for you when Bill had his affair," the woman said. "I think the best way to overcome it is to become president."

She then quickly asked a question about whom Clinton would choose as a running mate.

As the audience murmured in shock, Clinton said that it is too early to speculate about a running mate. She did not speak to the subject of her husband's involvement with Monica Lewinsky.

■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com
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