Promise of a 'Helluva Speech' Drew Him to MN Bill Clinton Rally for Obama

Minnesota is suddenly a magnet for presidential campaigns, with Bill Clinton and Paul Ryan each visiting the state twice in the last week before Election Day.

One Minnesotan who made sure to see Clinton when he was in town was Edina resident Mike Bossard, who has long family roots in Roseville.

Bossard was one of a minority of people not of student age at an Oct. 30 Obama rally at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Bossard said he came to hear "a helluva speech" but also feels a special kinship for Clinton: "We're the same age. ... The guy did a great job [as president]." He also shook hands with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her book tours in the 1990s.

Bossard said he lives near Southdale and is counting on Edina to swing Democratic in Tuesday's presidential election, as it did in 2008. He also lived for 45 years near Lexington and Larpenteur in Roseville, where his father, Ed, ran for mayor and city council and his mother, Pat, was also active. (There's a namesake Roseville street: Bossard Drive.)

Among the others speaking to the U of M crowd last Tuesday were U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum (DFL-MN), who is running for re-election to represent Roseville in Congress, and Keith Ellison, who is also running for re-election and if elected would represent part of Edina.

Clinton returned to Minnesota Sunday for a rally in St. Cloud. (and St. Paul, for dinner) on Nov. 2 and again Sunday afternoon for a rally at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Back at the U of M, did Bossard feel out of place as an older person with a "Student for Obama" sticker on his chest?

"Close enough," he said.