Hillary's high school pals rally

In the mid-'60s, they voted her Most Likely to Succeed.

These days -- their hair a little grayer, the stakes a little higher but their faith in their high school classmate just as strong -- they still believe it.

So on Saturday, in a scene that took them back decades, they tugged on sweatshirts, picked up clipboards and set up shop outside the Maine South High School stadium in Park Ridge, gathering petition signatures for Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy as the marching band belted out the national anthem and their alma maters took the field.

"It's like living the American dream," said Judy Osgood, a teacher from Arlington Heights who graduated with Clinton. "I teach kids about this. And I'm living it."

About a half-dozen former classmates gathered for the petition drive, which solicited support from those attending the Maine South vs. Maine East football game. Clinton attended East for three years before moving to South when it opened.

Bob and Dorothy Inserra, longtime Park Ridge residents, gladly signed the petitions. Dorothy said she would like to see a female president, but both admitted they're not sure she'll clinch the Democratic primary.

In fact, "I'm not even sure I'm going to vote for her," Bob Inserra said, "but I will not vote for a Republican."

So said plenty of others who came through the stadium gates, despite a general opinion that the Park Ridge area still leans to the right.

David Nelli puts himself in that Republican category; he hurried past the clipboard-wielding petitioners with a quick, firm shake of his head.

"I'm not a Democrat, and I don't like what she (Clinton) has done," Nelli said, adding he also disliked the effort to mix politics with teen sports.

A possible Republican tilt in Clinton's old stomping grounds could prove a sticky thing for her, classmate Mike Andrews acknowledged. So could the fact that Democratic opponent Barack Obama also has a strong Illinois identity, he added.

Then again, "I don't like Hillary or Obama," said Ruth O'Grady of Park Ridge, who turned down the chance to sign the petition and sparred jovially with her daughter-in-law's mom -- an Edison Park Democrat who said she likes Clinton -- over the issue.

A foot away, Michael and Sandra Deines energetically added their names to the Clinton petitions, reminiscing about their interactions with her as Maine South teachers.

Sandra Deines recalled the former first lady being an avid supporter of South's U.S. Constitution Team, always welcoming the squad to the White House when the teens competed in Washington.

That's the same loyalty her classmates touted Saturday, saying she's kept in touch with them even as she's found vast success.

"It's incredible," classmate Joel Platt of Glenview said of the entire experience. "None of us would have imagined."

He and others grinned as they praised their high school friend and remembered her as she once was: a Young Republicans member and a girl they say once lost out to a guy in a bid for a school office.

Back then, her friends say, it was harder to beat a man. But that, they point out with optimism, was a different era.