Clinton goes to Dixie's on Grand to watch Super Bowl

Brian Peterson, Star Tribune

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Hillary Rodham Clinton caught the Super Bowl and some dinner Sunday night at Dixie’s in St. Paul. The New York senator was thrilled with the New York Giants victory: “Super Bowl, Super Tuesday, we’ve got one down, let’s get the other,” she said.

Clinton watches Super Bowl at Dixie's on Grand.

Last update: February 3, 2008 - 11:09 PM

The idea was that Hillary Rodham Clinton would go to Dixie's on Grand to watch the Super Bowl.

When she arrived at the St. Paul restaurant at 6:30 p.m., the many TVs were tuned to the game. But she didn't glance at one.

Instead, photos, hugs and chats with volunteers amid a crowd of national and local press whose tall, hanging mics bobbed above her head as she inched forward along the bar.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman inched along with her, taking supporters' cameras and snapping shots when asked. One was with St. Paul resident and former Council Member Paula Maccabee and her family, who had been at the Augsburg College rally earlier.

"My heart is just in her hands right now," Maccabee said. "I'm 51 -- I should know better. But her sincerity and her passion have completely blown me away."

It was 6:48; New England Patriots 7, New York Giants 3; 1st and 10.

Many guests had returned to their seats, but Clinton continued her promenade along the bar, which was covered in Clinton posters. Two of the restaurant's owners, Peter Kenefick and John Wolf, talked with guests and smiled with relief after a long day.

They had found out that Clinton would be coming at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The hours following were "filled with wiring and dog-sniffing and adrenaline," Kenefick said.

"We've been doing this for 22 years, so putting on a party at the last minute is easy," he said. "But when it's for a presidential candidate -- that's a little different."

Clinton's campaign picked the spot in part because Mayor Coleman had recommended it; he's a regular. Sen. Norm Coleman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, both Republicans, both stop by often, "so we're party-neutral here," Kenefick said.

It was 7:09, the halftime show, when Clinton finally reached her seat. She turned to the cameras behind her and posed for a photo before her staff shooed journalists away.

"We'd like to get to the game," she said, with a big smile.

JENNA ROSS

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