Former President Bill Clinton has been popular among African Americans in Mississippi, and his appearance Sunday is expected to give a boost to one of the state's historically black colleges.
People are drawn to his charisma and his work on the economy, but others are turned off by the scandal involving White House intern Monica Lewinsky, said Mike Espy, a former Clinton administration agriculture secretary. "He is a polarizing figure in many cases. There are some who like him, some who don't."
Espy said Clinton charges $250,000 for domestic speaking engagements, and $350,000 or more for those outside the country. The fact that he waived his fee for Tougaloo College says "a lot about Tougaloo and Tougaloo's reputation and his regard for the institution," said Espy.
Clinton, the school's commencement speaker, is scheduled to arrive Sunday morning between 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and will leave to attend another speaking engagement outside Mississippi around 1 p.m., the school said.
Tougaloo President Beverly Hogan, a Clinton friend, invited him to speak.
The visit is not expected to affect the Democratic vote in elections this year.
"It is not a political visit. it is simply to recognize the great significance of Tougaloo College to our state and our region. That's the motivation behind his coming here," said William Winter, a friend and fellow Democrat who served as Mississippi governor the same time Clinton served as governor of Arkansas. Winter also served on Clinton's advisory board on race relations.
Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said he tried to schedule a reception with Clinton following the commencement, but was told the former president had already committed to another event.
Cole said Clinton is trying to limit his political fund-raising activities because he is focusing on raising money for his library-museum complex in Arkansas. "We wanted to make use of his visit while he was here because we would have been foolish to not and try to capitalize on it," he said.
Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Jim Herring said Clinton is not held in high regard by most Mississippians, and he hoped the visit would make voters realize what a Democrat really is, he said.
"It will remind people that anybody who runs with a 'D' by their name (is) wedded to Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy and people of that type," he said.
But Chip Washington, a school spokesman, said Tougaloo has been flooded by calls from people wanting to know details of the visit.
"I can tell you that since the announcement was made that President Clinton was going to be our commencement speaker, the excitement level has grown to a level that I didn't expect," he said. "It's a tremendous coup for the school."
Washington said the school expects 7,000 people to attend, which would be the largest crowd the school has seen. Last year, Tougaloo booked Vernon Jordan, a prominent Washington lawyer-lobbyist and civil rights activist who is also a friend of Clinton. He drew about 5,000 people.
State Sen. Barbara Blackmon, Clinton and others will receive an honorary degree from the school, he said.
Clinton, a two-term president who ran against Bob Dole in 1996, trounced his Republican opponent in Mississippi counties with large black populations, including Bolivar, Claiborne, Jefferson and Adams. Dole ultimately took 49.2 of the state's vote, to Clinton's 44.2 percent.
In 1992, Clinton garnered 40.8 percent of the vote in Mississippi, to the first George Bush's 50 percent.
"He's extremely popular ... among those people who are vulnerable, the disenfranchised, the traditional groups that have been left out," said Aaron Shirley, a Jackson pediatrician who joined Clinton's health-care task force in 1993.
"He identifies with them in a way that's really special. He conveys his concern in a way that is really touching."
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