Article Library

Nearly 1,000 students “cheered” for television personality, George Wendt, Tuesday on the Ohio Union West Lawn to rally support for “Vote for a Change ‘92” and the Democratic ticket.

Wendt took the stage to screams of “Norm” by the crowd and a segment of the Cheers theme played over the sound system.

In his laid-back style, Wendt joked about having to read from a speech written for him, for the event, in light of the “impassioned” previous speakers, including singer Michelle Shocked, and actress Elisabeth Shue. Wendt agreed with the people but likened his motivation to that of his television character.

“I feel sort of like Norm, you know, he wouldn’t really care. It takes a Caterpillar tractor to move him to do anything,” Wendt said.

“We just want to vote for Clinton and Gore. The debates had to be the slam-dunk that everyone was waiting for because ‘goofy’ Bush was just so pathetic trying to make an issue of his (Clinton’s) demonstration on foreign soil,” Wendt said. “What difference does that make?”

But the real surprise came when Wendt told the crowd that the beer he drinks on Cheers is not real beer, and Vera, his TV wife, is “hot.”

Eric Hovest, a junior from Ottawa, Ohio, said he supports the Republicans, but he came to the rally to “see Norm, course.”

“I know he (Bush) hasn’t done much in the past, but he’ll get something done. You can’t trust Clinton, and Perot talks too much,” Hovest said.

Pro-Democratic placards were passed out to the crowd prior to the rally. Some signs read, “Vote For A Change,” “Clinton/Gore,” and “Vote For The Earth ’92.”

Signs held by a small group of Perot supporters to the left of the stage read, “Perot For Our Future,” and “$4,000,000,000,000 And Counting.”

“We’ve got a lot of closet Perot supporters too, I think, that feel kind of intimidated by the crowd here today,” Plummer said.

Jason Mihalick, a junior from Heath, said, “I would never do this for any normal Democrat or Republican. He (Perot) makes me really want to try and influence what can happen in this country, makes me feel like I have a voice.”

Shocked told the crowd she had not voted since the 1980 election, when she voted for Jimmy Carter, but now she has changed her tune.

“I thought if I couldn’t say something nice, I wouldn’t say anything at all, and here it is 1992, and I do have something to say. I do support Bill Clinton’s bid for president of the United States on the Democratic ticket,” Shocked said.

Shocked, who is currently touring the country to promote her new album, Arkansas Traveler, sang four songs at the rally.

Following Shocked’s performance, actor Troy Evans of the television series, China Beach,” attacked Bush’s record on jobs, the Family Medical Leave Act, and education.

“George Bush says he’s the education president, and I figure if you believe that, you should vote for him,” Evans said.

Evans also addressed the issue of service in Vietnam.

“Here in Ohio, young men and women armed with bouquets of flowers laid down and gave their lives to stop a government program that was clearly wrong and was killing tens and thousands of citizens,” Evans said.

Camille Wallace, of the OSU College Democrats, introduced the first celebrity speaker on stage as “Not Norm, but Elisabeth Shue,”

Shue, of movies such as Adventures in Babysitting and Back to the Future III complimented the crowd several [article cuts off]