North Canaan’s Clayton goes to State of Union

NORTH CANAAN — To be able to stand up and applaud the things that she agrees with in the president’s State of the Union address is something Susie Clayton sees as a privilege. Doing it at home, alone, in front of the television, is maybe a little weird. But to do it in Washington, D.C., standing in the same room as the president, is a thrill and an honor.

Clayton is a North Canaan  selectman, two-time cancer survivor and staunch Democrat. She gets behind anything that makes life better for families: child care, equal pay and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Her success with the latter prompted ACA proponent Sen. Chris Murphy to invite her as his special guest. She had a seat in the upper gallery of the House of Representatives chamber on Jan. 20 to hear President Barack Obama talk about where he plans to lead the nation.

Clayton struggled for years to be able to get and to pay for insurance that would cover her with her preexisting condition. With ACA, for the first time, she said, she can be proactive with her health and easily pay her premiums.

“I was pleased to represent the Northwest Corner and all the people who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act,” she said of her visit to Washington.

Her three-day trip, by train, marks her first time back to D.C. since President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. It began with a layover in New York City that was just long enough for breakfast with her daughter, Allison.

Her sister, Kim, came to Washington from Maryland to join her. They met up with two cousins that night for dinner.

She arrived as scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Murphy’s office in the Senate’s Hart Building. There, she met Senators Diane Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal and chatted with Cathy Murphy while her husband ran home to check in with their two little boys. That, and seeing the genuine respect he gets from both sides of the aisle, was one of the best parts of the trip for Clayton.

“It’s a rare opportunity to see him in that setting. I have never had more respect for him myself.”

Next was another rare opportunity for a “civilian”: riding the Senate subway to the Capitol. There, they joined all 50 Senators, and their spouses and special guests for a traditional chicken pot pie dinner. 

There was more rubbing of senate celebrity shoulders. Sen. John McCain stopped by the table to chat. Senators Al Franken and Barbara Mikulski joined them for dinner. Clayton found herself spending a lot of time explaining that she is not from New Canaan, but a real town called North Canaan.

Clayton was able to satisfy her goal of meeting many of the women in the senate. 

At 8:15 p.m., the guests were taken 15 at a time through a security check, past cameras for all the major television networks and up to the galleries. The chamber was much smaller than it seems on TV, she said.

There was no “tweeting” for Clayton, had she been so inclined. All electronics were left back in the Senate building. 

“I really enjoyed seeing the things you don’t see before the cameras roll, such as when they bring in the gavel and pass out copies of the speech to all the senators.

“The best moment was an unscripted one when Obama said his campaigning was over. There was rousing applause from both sides of the hall. Everyone got the joke. It was one of those moments and feelings you just can’t describe.”