Hello. Welcome to my look back at the 96 Presidential Campaign. I was lucky enough to see all three major candidates, Perot, Dole, and Clinton in a period of about a month or so, before the election. I hope you enjoy this close look at three important political figures, my first batch of pictures is from the Clinton rally i went to in chicago......all pictures taken by Pete Dirksen unless otherwise noted. Warning, this page is graphically intensive.

Yosemite -- Summer '96 Election Trail-- Fall '96

The Clinton rally that I attended way back in October of 1996 was very memorable. It took place about a week and a half before the election as Clinton was stumping throughout the Midwest. If you want the detailed story, which is an incredibly intrigiuing tale in its own right, take a look here.

I got to the event at least three hours early and here is a picture of the crew setting up the stage. If you noticed the barricade at the front of the stage, that would be where i was standing for this event. That was the gold ticket barrier...as close as you can get. The blue ticket barrier is the barricade at the bottom of the pic, which is where i took this picture from. If you didn't have a gold or blue, your viewing place would be about a block away.


Heres another picture of the plaza before the campaign rally, the banner says 'President Clinton, on the Right Track to the 21st Century.' The barricade in this picture is the back of the "blue ticket" area, but without one, you were only allowed to stand on the other side of the street. Its a good thing i got up close.

All of the big-shots in Illinois politics were at the rally, except for Congressman Yates. Here are (From left-right) Sen. Carole Moseley-Braun, President Clinton, (then-candidate) Sen. Dick Durbin, and Mayor Richard Daley.

Here are some other pictures i took of Clinton, including a close-up of him and the back of the head of the girl who let me into the rally with her gold ticket. I wish i had my golden ticket with me, I would've scanned that in as well but its back on my desk in California.

(left)Here is a picture of Bob Dole and the girl 'signing' his speech. This event took place in Bloomington, Illinois, a small rural community. This was taken on some family's farm but it attracted a huge crowd from the area. I met a girl this year who actually played with one of the high school bands that were at the speech.
(middle)Joanna Kemp and Bob Dole.
(right)Jack Kemp is to the left of the speaker at the podium, who i believe is either a state rep or the head of the Illinois Repulican party.