Teetering on the Border (empty seats for Hillary) [View All]

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Hillary Clinton, drubbed by Barack Obama in 10 straight votes, flew down to this dusty border town on Wednesday to make her last stand for the Democratic presidential nomination. But where was the cavalry?

On Tuesday night, Obama had packed in a capacity crowd of more than 18,000 at the Toyota Center in Houston, home of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets. But when Clinton emerged to speak at the 6,800-seat Dodge Arena here -- home of a minor-league hockey team -- rows and rows of empty blue seats awaited.

Organizers had pulled out all the stops: a two-dozen-piece mariachi band, Mexican dancers, a cowboy-cowgirl dancing act, a goth rock band, even a guy throwing out T-shirts and shouting "Who's excited?" But it was no use. In the top row of the arena, Jose G. Bustos, wearing a Clinton T-shirt and sticker, had Section 120 to himself. He surveyed the crowd. "We were expecting a little more," he said.

After her defeat in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday did what Americans in trouble have done for centuries: She ran for the border. As has been her habit this primary season, she came up just short."

more