Published: March 20, 2008 08:37 am         

ONLINE SPECIAL: Clinton campaign event coverage

Clinton campaign event ends — Updated 1:40 p.m.

Sen. Clinton’s motorcade left Terre Haute about 1:30 p.m.

Her next stop is a town hall meeting this afternoon in Anderson, followed by a rally later today in Evansville.

Check back for continued coverage of the Clinton campaign event on tribstar.com and in Friday’s Tribune-Star.

Clinton speaks to crowd outside the Saratoga before leaving town — Updated 1:05 p.m.

At 12:54 p.m. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Evan Bayh greeted the crowd waiting outside the Saratoga. Clinton wrapped up her speech at 1:02 p.m.

She will be leaving shortly for the airport to attend a town hall meeting this afternoon in Anderson, followed by a rally later today in Evansville.

Check back for continued coverage of the Clinton campaign event on tribstar.com and in Friday’s Tribune-Star.

Clinton campaign event under way — Updated 11:25 a.m.

Sen. Clinton received an enthusiastic welcome inside the Saratoga Diner, where she is now meeting at a table with Sen. Evan Bayh and group of invited guest voters from around the Wabash Valley.

The panel of participants at the table with Clinton are Don Osborne Jr. and his mother, Judy Osborne, both of Vincennes in Knox County; Wayne Harpenau of Terre Haute, an engineer at Sony DADC; Julie Harpenau, Wayne’s wife, who holds a senior hour position at Pfizer; and Linda Mullenix of Greencastle, an employee of International Automotive Components Group North America.

When Clinton entered the diner shortly after 11 a.m., she was greeted by Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett and City Councilman at Large George Azar, who is also the owner of the Saratoga.

Clinton arrives at Saratoga — Updated 10:58 a.m.

Sen. Clinton’s motorcade arrived at the Saratoga Diner at 10:55 a.m. Her event inside the diner will begin shortly.

Clinton greets supporters, onlookers at airport — Updated 10:45 a.m.

About 200 people were at the Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field this morning hoping to greet and meet Sen Hillary Clinton. They were not disappointed.

Sen. Clinton, after disembarking her plane, joined Sen. Evan Bayh and walked to the airport fence where the crowd was gathered. She shook hands and signed autographs for several minutes before leaving the airport in a motorcade heading west on Poplar Street toward downtown Terre Haute.

Several people shouted to Clinton that they supported her and wished her well in her campaign. To those suporters, Clinton said: “I need your vote. I need you!”

Crowd in place inside Saratoga — Updated 10:30 a.m.

One person sitting at the Saratoga having breakfast and waiting for Hillary Clinton’s arrival is Beth Gaither.

“I am a tremendous Hillary Clinton supporter,” Gaither said. “This is unbelievable.”

Gaither will be sitting just a few tables away from where Hillary Clinton will be joining a group of people waiting.

“To think we’ll be part of a national movement and help determine a national election is incredible,” Gaither said, noting that she took a vacation day from her job at ISU to be there.

Roberta Santilli is sitting with Gaither, whom she met this morning.

“This is part of history and I hope she’s our next president,” Santilli said.

Former Indiana First Lady Judy O’Bannon is among notables in the crowd.

Sen. Clinton arrives at airport — Updated 10:25 a.m.

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s chartered ATA Boeing 737 landed at approximately 10:17 at Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field. She was being greeted by Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and they are expected to make their way toward downtown Terre Haute shortly.

A crowd of about 75 people were hand as Clinton’s plane landed.

Clinton expected to address crowd outside — Updated 9:45 a.m

The crowd outside the Saratoga Diner in downtown Terre Haute is up to around 300 and growing as they await the arrival of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

A large number of local officials are on the scene, including Vigo County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Etling, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett and many others.

The organizers are sending the overflow crowd to the rear of the building where an audio set-up has been constructed so the crowd gathered can hear what’s going on inside the restaurant.

Following Clinton’s event inside the diner, she is expected to address the crowd outside from a flat-bed truck stationed behind the Saratoga.

There are button and T-shirt salesmen out there and some of the buttons say “Bring Back Peace, Prosperity, The Clintons” and another one showing Hillary depicted as a WWII-era woman flexing a muscle saying “She Can Do It — Hillary ’08.”

Another button displays a photo of President George W. Bush, saying “Good Riddance.”

The buttons are $5 a piece. T-shirts touting “Hillary for President” are $15.

Clinton had not arrived as of 9:30 a.m. The doors to the Saratoga Diner opened at about 8:50 a.m. It was expected that it would fill up quickly.

Crowd gathering for Clinton visit— Published 8:37 a.m.

Staff Report

A crowd of people began arriving at 2:45 a.m. today in downtown Terre Haute in hopes of getting into the Saratoga Diner to see presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

By about 8 a.m., about 200 people, many carrying signs of support for Clinton, were already lined up on Wabash Avenue outside the Saratoga.

“It’s great,” said Saratoga owner George Azar. “It shows Terre Haute cares about the election.”

The Saratoga did not open at 7 a.m. as anticipated. It was expected that the doors would open by about 9 a.m.

Members of the media were permitted into the Saratoga shortly after 6 a.m. to set up electronic equipment. Secret Service and campaign officials instructed the media to place their equipment in the building and then leave so that the equipment could be checked. Mostly local media were on the scene. The national media was not expected until shortly before Clinton’s anticipated arrival at 10:30 a.m.

The crowd gathered at dawn was estimated to be about 60 percent women. It appeared all age groups were represented. There was a decent number of college students in the crowd.

“It’s a big deal, said Vickie King, a Terre Haute resident in line to get into the diner. “This election is a big deal. People should pay attention.”

Debbie Cagle, 45, an employee of the Harrison Township Assessor’s Office, was the first person in line at 2:45 a.m. Why did she arrive so early? “Hillary,” was her answer. She was carrying a photo of Clinton that she hopes to have autographed by the candidate.

Police have streets blocked downtown from Sixth Street to Fourth Street on Wabash Avenue, and from Walnut to Wabash on Fifth. The intersection of Fourth and Wabash is also blocked.

Check back for further updates throughout the day.