Former President Bill Clinton's appearance in Austin on Wednesday met with fervent opposition from area conservative Republicans, who staged a protest outside the Frank Erwin Center.
Members of the Young Conserv-atives of Texas, the Williamson County Republican Party and the FreeRepublic.com online forum held up signs amid a crowd waiting to hear the former president speak. Their posters focused on what they considered Clinton's political misdeeds with slogans such as "Remember Elian?" and "The Price is Right: A 'free' speech from Bill Clinton."
"He shouldn't come to Texas," said David Rushing, a protester and a law student from Southern Methodist University. "Texas has never voted for him, and he isn't welcome here."
On behalf of the participants, protest organizer Brendan Steinh-auser said he believes the former president ruined America, blaming Clinton for allowing nuclear proliferation in North Korea and causing the Sept. 11 attacks by foregoing an offer by the Sudanese government for Osama bin Laden's extradition.
Gwen Hodges, a self-described former liberal and UT alumna, returned to campus to stand with signs supporting President Bush and the Republican Party.
"If Bill Clinton were a Republican, he would have resigned instead of sitting through the impeachment trial," Hodges said. "We [Republicans] are the type of people that if we mess up, we step aside from the leadership role."
But the protest spawned intense conversation between Republican supporters and citizens. While the protesters declared support for President Bush and his case for military action in Iraq, they denounced Clinton for compromising national security. Thor Harris, a passer-by and Austin resident, stood up for the liberal and left-wing arguments.
"You know why 9/11 happened?" Harris said. "Because of the Texas oilmen in the Middle East. There are innocent people there who are going to die. You want more 9/11s? Bomb Iraq."
A Republican protester yelled back, "I wouldn't give a piss about 100 of their people over ours. I'm concerned about Americans and American security."
Startled spectators moved away from the altercation but continued cheering for the side they supported.
Steinhauser criticized what he considers the liberal slant of the UT campus.
"Liberal views are a criterion for the faculty and students on this campus," he said.
While most students agree that the campus is relatively liberal compared to the rest of Texas, few deny the conservative presence.
"This is Texas," said Tanuja Parachuri, a business freshman. "There are always going to be a lot of Republicans."
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