Supporters did the usual and perhaps the not-so-usual putting on this weekend's Missoula fundraiser in an effort to help the New York senator nab the Democratic presidential nomination.
They e-mailed and threw down big money, but they also sang and quilted for her. At a public appearance later near the airport, others flooded her with enthusiasm. Before that in Butte, they cheered on her message crafted specially for the old copper boomtown.
And on Monday, organizer Williams said she isn't winding down at all. In fact, she said she and other Clinton supporters are gearing up to announce more appearances in the Big Sky State by Clinton herself, her family members and other big-name backers.
Judging from reports of Sunday's breakfast, planning for those appearances probably, well, takes a village. With a key Clinton official stuck in Denver, local people did the heavy lifting at the fundraiser.
Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, helped put on the event and said the brunch itself was a whirlwind. And while local folks did a lot of work, they didn't make all the decisions.
“The campaign ultimately controls everything and not you as the local folks,” Sands said.
The day of the event, the biggest thing the local folks did is shuttle people to the places they needed to be - pictures with the candidate in one room, back to brunch in another, and surely, something else somewhere else.
“It's a pretty quick and fast-moving thing,” Sands said.
Missoula City Councilwoman Stacy Rye said in a lot of ways, putting together a fundraiser for a presidential candidate is much like putting on one for a local or state candidate.
“The details are the same. There's a recipe to doing a fundraiser - any fundraiser,” Rye said.
It's just on a larger scale, but Rye said there are a few glaring differences. Like well-heeled German shepherds cruising the joint before the candidate arrives. And Secret Service agents.
“We don't see big guys talking into their wrists,” Rye said.
She wanted to collapse after the brunch, but said she was too wired. So she called her family in Illinois and West Virginia. She told her mom she got an extra bumper sticker, and her mom said this: “Send it to my house, and me and your sister will fight over it.”
For some, the rewards are big for being part of such an occasion. Sen. Carol Juneau, D-Browning, said Clinton thanked several people by name at the brunch. And she named Juneau.
“It makes you feel good,” Juneau said.
Williams said the reward was in watching her state embrace the tenacious, dogged and skilled woman she has known for 25 years.
“It's been just a thrilling week for me to see a friend come out here and Montanans see the same person that I know and have known all these years. It's very powerful to watch that happen,” she said.
Williams said Clinton is committed to returning to Montana sometime in May.
“We're hoping for one more maybe quick stop in Missoula, and maybe Bozeman and Billings for (the) next events,” Williams said.
She said the Clintons have spent time in Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, and former President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton are eager to spend more time in Montana before the June 3 primary, too.
She said supporters will likely put on smaller fundraisers in Missoula between now and then. In the meantime, they deemed the big one Sunday a success.
“It wasn't corporations who paid for her to come out here, it was local folks,” Rye said. “So it's something we should be proud of.”
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