‘If she’s not ready, then who is?’

By Melissa Gomez

When Bill Clinton visited Gainesville on Saturday, Ed Kellerman got the former president to sign his favorite shirt.

When the 64-year-old UF master lecturer met Bill Clinton, he handed him a frame full of political buttons, one of which he created.

“I feel privileged he has one of my buttons now,” Kellerman said.

The second floor of the Gainesville resident’s house is decorated in memorabilia, mostly from presidential elections, ranging from buttons and bobbleheads to banners and trinkets. The trinkets, some of which are about a decade old, span the political spectrum, but he considers himself a Democrat.

Kellerman said he remembers when Bill Clinton visited UF in 1992, a scene he captured with a camera and put onto one of the buttons he gave to Bill Clinton on Saturday.

Cardboard cutouts of former presidents sit in his house, along with two lifesize cutouts of Hillary Clinton. He has a blue cone that reads “Holler for Change” and a beer can that reads “Billary Beer.”

On Wednesday, the day after the election, he said he plans on bringing both of the cutouts of Hillary Clinton to one of his classes to show support for her presidency.

Kellerman said Hillary Clinton’s background as secretary of state proves she has the diplomacy skills to succeed as the next president. “If she’s not ready, then who is?” he said.