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Feb 3, 2008 11:36 pm US/Central
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Hillary Clinton Makes Campaign Stop In Minn.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at her campaign stop here just a half hour before kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday, but some of those who came to see her said the big game was second on their minds.
About 3,800 people packed into a gymnasium at Augsburg College -- with a couple hundred watching on TV in an overflow room -- to hear Clinton speak on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to health care to education.
Contenders for president from both parties were chasing votes in the final hours before 24 states, including Minnesota, hold presidential contests on Tuesday.
"It's something historic," said Mike Kolek, 50, of St. Peter, wearing a New England Patriots sweat shirt. "Minnesota is often a flyover state, so we don't usually get a chance to see the candidates."
Kolek and his wife Marlae were headed afterward to a Super Bowl party two hours away, but they didn't care if they'd miss most of the game.
"It's just exciting to be here and get to see her in person," Marlae Kolek said.
Clinton had been scheduled to appear at 4 p.m. in an event billed as a town hall meeting on the economy. The campaign said the event had been incorrectly advertised some places and was always intended as a rally.
Clinton spoke for more than 30 minutes and took time afterward to greet supporters, including members of the overflow crowd. She then headed to St. Paul to watch the Super Bowl at a private party.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale introduced Clinton, who catered to her Minnesota audience by calling the Interstate 35W bridge collapse a "travesty" and urging improvements in the country's infrastructure. She also said Minnesota's Iron Range can show that jobs can be created without hurting the environment.
"I see an America where in beautiful places like the range, you can have forestry and mining and tourism because you have a sense that we're all in this together," she said.
And just as her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, did at his event at the Target Center a day earlier, Clinton remembered the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila, who both died in a 2002 plane crash.
While there were thousands of Clinton T-shirts, buttons and campaign signs floating around the gym, some attendees had come to hear the New York Democrat to help them decide before Minnesota's caucuses on Tuesday.
Clinton was slightly ahead of Obama in the only statewide poll in the final week, but it was taken before John Edwards dropped out of the race.
Will Labovitch, 28, of South St. Paul, had supported Edwards and was undecided. He was among nearly 20,000 people who saw Obama at the Target Center Saturday, but said he preferred Clinton's event.
"The trouble is it felt like a church revival, not a political campaign rally," Labovitch said of the Obama event. "I think I might give Hillary a shot."
Elliot Saltzman, 22, of Woodbury, was also undecided. He said he's looking for a candidate who has experience but can also inspire people to get involved in politics. He had a favorable view of Clinton after hearing her speak.
"I haven't ever seen energy like this. You can tell she's sincere about the issues," Saltzman said. "You don't see it on TV, but you could feel it here today."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)