Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Rockin' the Vote

THE GUY IN THE RED SHIRT IN THE CROWD RIGHT ABOVE BARACK'S HEAD! CAROL NEXT TO ME W/SIGN






Until Friday, February 15, 2008, I had never attended a political rally of any sort. It's not that I don't care or don't vote (I do), it's just that I see these kinds of events as spin doctor presentations in which a candidate reiterates ideas and emotional hooks written for him or her to an audience which is already favorable. More pertinent information is disseminated via the web than I expected to gain by attending the Barack Obama rally in Green Bay. I went, though, for a couple of reasons, and I was intrigued by a couple of things.
I went because
1. It is history in the making. A woman? An African-American? A Viet Nam era vet? With these as presidential possibilities, I figure this will be a seminal moment in history.
2. Admission was free. (This is a big draw for me) While the tickets were required and free, they were gotten at great expense! I visited three web sites, made at least 100 phone calls (all busy signals) and made several calls to the local Obama office where nobody picked up the phone. Through the campus mail, I found that the ticklets were being distributed on campus; when I got to the designated site, nobody knew anything about it. Imagine my chagrin when the ticket line was set up 50 feet from my office the next day! After days of trying everything, I had only to walk across the hall and pick them up!
3. I already had a parking spot and entry to the building. NO walking for blocks in the cold (and it WAS cold) and standing in a queue outside for hours. I did have to stand inside for roughly an hour before I could get into the auditorium, and I did have to then wait two hours before the candidate showed up. However, I had brought along a book, and the concession stands were open! It just got better and better. Then, the main event:
Barack was introduced, not by the governor, the chancellor or anyone famous. He was introduced by a single mother of three who had just moved into her new home, courtesy of Habitat for Humanity. This becasme one of the overriding themes we were to hear: "We (the government) will help, but YOU have to do something for us." Money for college was promised to the students, but in return, they would have to volunteer in their communities and become invested in America. Parents were challenged to turn off the TV, the computer and the cell phones and work with their school-age kids and their teachers to remake the education system. If we thought this Democrat was here to give us something for nothing, we were sadly mistaken.

Obama was electric. He was funny, self-deprecating and didn't mind poking fun at the chancellor as well. Our university chancellor's name is Bruce Shepard, and when the students (and there were many of them) shouted "BRUUUUUCE!" in unison, Obama made a comment that he certainly hoped they were saying his name and not booing him. Bruce laughed as we all did. Mrs. UWGB simply smiled.

His speech was almost an hour of things he's said over and over...after all, this was his third public speech of the day and perhaps thousandth of the campaign. Continuously interrupted by applause, he said all the right things about the economy, health care, Iraq, education, NAFTA, and all the other hot-button issues. This was to be expected. He did, however, use the word "cool" which was not expected. I understand that such a descriptor is probably a bit passe, but it marked him as one of "my" people. His use of the vernacular in that way reminded me that he was a lot closer to my experiences in life than any of the other possibilities.

The thing that really struck me was his choice of music. While waiting for two hours, we were treated to prerecorded music playing subliminal-type messages, I guess. Obama's choices included selections from Stevie Wonder, Kool and the Gang. Curtis Mayfield and Neil Diamond. Chuck Berry gets special props because there were TWO of his songs played, an honor accorded to no other musical group. I thought the selection of a Willie Nelson version of "The City of New Orleans" a bit odd. Maybe Arlo Guthrie was too reminiscent of the Viet Nam era.

Anyway, as he closed with a statement ending "...when I am the next president of The United States of America," Earth, Wind and Fire's "Shining Star" erupted from the speakers, and the crowd literally lost its collective mind. Honestly, I've been to a great number of rock concerts and was not as moved by what happened. Plus, it was free, and I got a free piece of memorabilia...try THAT at a rock concert!

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