MOREHEAD — Former President Bill Clinton got a warm welcome on a cold, windy day when he was the star of a rally-style gathering at the Morehead Convention Center Tuesday.

Those who wanted to get a glimpse of Clinton stood in line for hours before being let into the center, which was packed from wall to wall.

“I have had one great day in Kentucky,” Clinton told the audience in reference to his stop in Maysville earlier in the day. “We stopped at a Dairy Queen and 600 people showed up.”

However, Clinton quickly got serious about his main goal of the trip: to support the presidential campaign of his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

“I want the young people to not be denied a shot at the American dream,” Clinton said, adding the large number of small donations made to his wife’s campaign by average Americans indicates. “People know we’ve got to change the direction of America and give young people a chance at the American dream and restore American’s standing in the world.”

Although Bill Clinton said he likes apparent GOP nominee John McCain, a man who “has given everything he can to his country without getting killed doing it,” he said he believes Senator Clinton will make the best president because of her plans to deal with the country’s most pressing problems, including energy dependence, universal health care, education and military withdrawal from Iraq.

Bill Clinton said the senator has plans to encourage the propagation of vehicles that get as much as 100 miles per gallon of gasoline, as well as the use of biomass, which is the use of living and recently dead biological material as fuel or for industrial production.

The Clinton strategy to provide universal health care, Bill Clinton said, is “morally responsible and fiscally responsible.” He asked members of the crowd to raise their hands if they know someone who lacks health insurance, and at least half of those in attendance raised their hands. Bill Clinton said that was more than have raised their hand when the question was asked at other venues.

“We are the only rich country in the world where such a large percentage of people are without coverage,” he said, explaining a percentage of each dollar insurance companies receive is used to make sure some individuals remain uninsured; about a third of every dollar covers paperwork.

He said his wife’s plan would allow those with insurance to keep what they already have if they choose; others would buy into the plan available to Congress.

“If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for you,” he said to much applause.

The plan would make it illegal for insurance companies to spend money to keep some individuals uninsured; money not spent on paperwork would go to subsidize low-income individuals who can’t afford insurance, he said.

Making education more accessible and improving education would be another of Clinton’s goals, he said. That would be accomplished in several ways, including more than doubling the tuition tax credit, making more apprenticeships available, spending more on training, retraining and paying teachers and “substantially changing No Child Left Behind.”

The former president said Hillary Clinton favors devising a plan to withdraw from Iraq in 60 days, adding if Iraq doesn’t see an end to a U.S. presence, the country won’t move forward on its own.

“I know everyone here would help their neighbor if their house burned down,” Clinton said, illustrating his point. “If your neighbor needed to stay with you for a month, you’d be glad to let him stay, even on your couch. If your neighbor were in dire straits and needed to stay for six months, everybody in here would let him stay. But if your neighbor stayed on your couch for five years, it’s not about the fire anymore. It’s about not getting off the couch.”

Finally, Clinton said if elected, the senator will be responsible for the promises she made on the campaign trail and see that those things are accomplished.

“I promise she won’t forget it,” he said.

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.