Sending my love and prayers to the Obama family and to Maya's family on their loss.
Penna
Whatever you wanna call it... That was the BEST 30 minutes of TV I've ever "given my money to pay for"!
I'm proud to be a Maxed-Out supporter, door-knocker, out-of-state traveler, phone-bank caller, travelFORchange sponsoring, t-shirt giving, button wearing, CNN and MSNBC at 2am watching, obama.com blogging, bumper sticker on my BMW having Obama voter!
Peace,
Obama '08
Anyone who has miles they'd like to donate to help volunteers travel to the swing states... Now's the time!
www.TravelForChange.org is the place to go and search for a volunteer who's going to whichever swing state you'd like to help out!
I personally just sponsored 3 people... SF to Ohio, SF to Ft. Lauderdale Florida and Texas to New Mexio.
it's easy!! Go now!!
gObama 08!
Pen
Hey everyone...
Will you check out my video on YouTube.com and tell me what you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJ3pnLOm8M
I've been registering voters in Colorado and Nevada, calling voters in New Mexico, Illinois and Nevada, knocking on doors in Colorado... I just sponsored three people to travel to Florida, NM and Ohio for Obama.... I just can't stop!
Please help me spread the word about this video my friends and I shot.... This is NOT a dress rehearsal folks!!!!
I just wanted to send my well wishes to Barack Obama and his family. My thoughts and Prayers are with you in this time of need. I pray that Toot stays with us long enough to see her Grandson become the President of the United States of America... But if that is not to be, I know there is a party in Heaven with Barack's Mother, Father and Grandfather... and Toot is the only one missing.
We love you Barack... Take all the time you need... We are working every day to keep things going strong and come Nov. 4th we'll show the world that the dream is true for Everyone!
I'm sure all of you have seen by now the racist image that Republican Diane Fedele, the President of the Chaffey County Republican Women organization put together and sent out to 200 of her friends and group members. Below is her email address, mailing and phone number. Feel free to email her and phone her (I already did both) and let her know how you feel.
Here is the article, in case you haven't seen... (not that I want to promote or push this kind of crap..)
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html
Diane Fedele and the Chaffey County Republican Women:
ChaffeyCommunityRWF@cfrw.org
Chaffey Community Republican Women, FederatedP.O. Box 974
Upland, CA 91785
Fax: (909) 982-6880
I just got back from seeing Dennis Miller live here in Santa Rosa California. I have to say, back when he was on SNL I LOVED Dennis Miller.
Not so much anymore.
Please don't get me wrong... It's not that I only like people who agree with me... It's that if you say you are voting FOR someone... Why would those reasons be some of the following
1. I really don't want to vote for someone who is smarter than me.
2. John McCain looks like he would just attack someone, not talk to them
3. I respect Sarah Paylin for having her baby, not aborting it... She deserves my vote just for that
4. I don't believe in climate change, what's 1 1/2 degree's increase anyways
5. Catie Couric is the worst interviewer, no one takes her seriously
Now folks... I WISH I could say he was trying to be funny.... he was not. He was being serious and was taking questions from the audience that was serious as a heart attack.
For such a cerebral comedian I guess I expected more from him... I wanted to be challenged on my point of view by someone who I thought would have a profound outlook.
NOT Dennis Miller... He was vapid and disappointing and quite sad.
I read this on New Yorker.com
SHOUTS & MURMURS
My Gal
by George Saunders September 22, 2008
Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”
Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.
That is just how I am.
Do you know the difference between me and a Hockey Mom who has forgot her lipstick?
A dog collar.
Do you know the difference between me and a dog collar smeared with lipstick?
Not a damn thing.
We are essentially wired identical.
So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.
A lose-lose for the pig.
There’s a lesson in that, I think.
Who does that pig represent, and that collar, and that Hockey Mom, and that pit bull?
You figure it out. Then give me a call.
Seriously, give me a call.
Now, let us discuss the Élites. There are two kinds of folks: Élites and Regulars. Why people love Sarah Palin is, she is a Regular. That is also why they love me. She did not go to some Élite Ivy League college, which I also did not. Her and me, actually, did not go to the very same Ivy League school. Although she is younger than me, so therefore she didn’t go there slightly earlier than I didn’t go there. But, had I been younger, we possibly could have not graduated in the exact same class. That would have been fun. Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Élite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.
Sarah Palin was also the mayor of a very small town. To tell the truth, this is where my qualifications begin to outstrip even hers. I have never been the mayor of anything. I can’t even spell right. I had help with the above, but now— Murray, note to Murray: do not correct what follows. Lets shoe the people how I rilly spel Mooray and punshuate so thay can c how reglar I am, and ther 4 fit to leed the nashun, do to: not sum mistir fansy pans.
OK Mooray. Get corecting agin!
Thanks, Murray, you’re fabulous. Very good at what you do. Actually, Murray, come to think of it, you are so good, I suspect you are some kind of Élite. You are fired, Murray, as soon as this article is done. I’m going to hire someone Regular, who is not so excellent, and lives off the salt of the land and the fat of his brow and the sweat of his earth. Although I hope he’s not a screw-up.
I’m finding it hard to concentrate, as my eyes are killing me, due to I have not blinked since I started writing this. And, me being Regular, it takes a long time for me to write something this long.
Where was I? Ah, yes: I hate Élites. Which is why, whenever I am having brain surgery, or eye surgery, which is sometimes necessary due to all my non-blinking, I always hire some random Regular guy, with shaking hands if possible, who is also a drunk, scared of the sight of blood, and harbors a secret dislike for me.
Now, let’s talk about slogans. Ours is: Country First. Think about it. When you think of what should come first, what does? Us ourselves? No. That would be selfish. Our personal families? Selfish. God? God is good, I love Him, but, as our slogan suggests, no, sorry, God, You are not First. No, you don’t, Lord! How about: the common good of all mankind! Is that First? Don’t make me laugh with your weak blinking! No! Mercy is not First and wisdom is not First and love is super but way near the back, and ditto with patience and discernment and compassion and all that happy crap, they are all back behind Country, in the back of my S.U.V., which— Here is an example! Say I am about to run over a nun or orphan, or an orphan who grew up to become a nun—which I admire that, that is cool, good bootstrapping there, Sister—but then God or whomever goes, “It is My will that you hit that orphaned nun, do not ask Me why, don’t you dare, and I say unto thee, if you do not hit that nun, via a skillful swerve, your Country is going to suffer, and don’t ask Me how, specifically, as I have not decided that yet!” Well, I am going to do my best to get that nun in one felt swope, because, at the Convention, at which my Vice-Presidential candidate kicked mucho butt, what did the signs there say? Did they say “Orphaned Nuns First” and then there is a picture of a sad little nun with a hobo pack?
Not in my purview.
Sarah Palin knows a little something about God’s will, knowing God quite well, from their work together on that natural-gas pipeline, and what God wills is: Country First. And not just any country! There was a slight error on our signage. Other countries, such as that one they have in France, reading our slogan, if they can even read real words, might be all, like, “Hey, bonjour, they are saying we can put our country, France, first!” Non, non, non, France! What we are saying is, you’d better put our country first, you merde-heads, or soon there will be so much lipstick on your pit bulls it will make your berets spin!
In summary: Because my candidate, unlike your winking/blinking Vice-Presidential candidate, who, though, yes, he did run as the running mate when the one asking him to run did ask him to run, which that I admire, one thing he did not do, with his bare hands or otherwise, is, did he ever kill a moose? No, but ours did. And I would. Please bring a moose to me, over by me, and down that moose will go, and, if I had a kid, I would take a picture of me showing my kid that dead moose, going, like, Uh, sweetie, no, he is not resting, he is dead, due to I shot him, and now I am going to eat him, and so are you, oh yes you are, which is responsible, as God put this moose here for us to shoot and eat and take a photo of, although I did not, at that time, know why God did, but in years to come, God’s will was revealed, which is: Hey, that is a cool photo for hunters about to vote to see, plus what an honor for that moose, to be on the Internet.
How does the moose feel about it? Who knows? Probably not great. But do you know what the difference is between a dead moose with lipstick on and a dead moose without lipstick?
Lipstick.
Think about it.
Moose are, truth be told, Élites. They are big and fast and sort of rule the forest. Sarah took that one down a notch. Who’s Élite now, Bullwinkle?
Not Sarah.
She’s just Regular as heck. ♦
From tonight's "Late Show:"
The Top Ten Questions People are Asking The John McCain Campaign
#10 "I just contributed to your campaign – how do I get a refund?"
#9 "It’s Sarah Palin – does this mean I’m pars’dent?"
#8 "Can’t you solve this by selling some of your houses?"
#7 "This is Clay Aiken. Is McCain single?"
#6 "Do you still think the fundamentals of our economy are strong, Genius?"
#5 "Are you doing all of this just to get out of going on Letterman?"
#4 "What would Matlock do?"
#3 "Hillary here – my schedule is free Friday night."
#2 "Is this just an excuse to catch up on napping?"
#1 "This is President Bush – what’s all this trouble with the economy?"
Keith Olberman was on in exchange for McCain who flaked on his appearance on David Letterman tonight... He said he had to go back to DC... but they cut to him getting his make-up on for an appearance on Katie Couric (David said it was like looking at McCain getting a manicure!)
fantastic.
I'm still coming across MANY people (2-3 a day) who aren't sure if they are registered, didn't know they had to re-register if they've moved or didn't vote in the 2004 election!
We need commercials playing in EVERY STATE where Barack Obama himself tells people the deadline for that state and the reasons to re-register so that ALL Americans who are planning on voting will be able to!
I had to fly to Los Angeles to vote in the Primary Election and my friend wasn't able to vote because she was removed because she didn't vote in 2004
We need Barack to do the commercials because in Colorado and Florida some Republicans are giving out fake flyers with bad dates and wrong information.....
WE ONLY HAVE 2 WEEKS UNTIL THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE IN SOME SWING STATES!!!!!!!!!!
Just got back from a weekend in Denver Colorado with my friend Greer. We had such a fantastic time during the convention in August, we decided to take a weekend and canvas and most importantly, REGISTER VOTERS!
We decided to do it the old fashioned way, standing in front of a grocery store! We were wearing our Obama '08 gear that Greer had stitched onto our cute tops/dresses. This did help us focus our registering efforts on Obama supporters, cause believe me... McCain supporters stayed FAR away from us!
There were so many nice people, some offering their homes for us to stay... some offering to get us deals on hotels... others signing up to volunteer as well. There were also people who came up to us to thank us for what we are doing for our country.
We met young people, we met old people, Black, White and Brown people... What stands out the most to me, we met people who were loving, supportive and enthusiastic. The kind of feeling I had back when we had our big earthquake in San Francisco... a sense of community and love. All this, but without the tragedy.
We also met the opposite. Hostile, negative and just plain rude. I found it interesting though how they would feel the need to be this way. You would think they (McCain supporters) would just walk on by and go about their business. It's not like we were asking them anything other than "Hi, are you registered to vote?" But instead, they made rude comments and looks.... Poor things... I feel sorry for them. It must be difficult to live that way 24-7.
Long story short.... We need volunteers to help register new Obama voters! Please, if you can... take a day and go to a super market, old folks home, college campus, (anyplace!) and make sure EVERYONE is registered to vote and everyone knows when the deadline of your state's deadline is. SO many people didn't know when Colorado's was and SO many people didn't know they had to re-register if they've moved or if they haven't voted in a while.
The time is NOW... This is not a dress rehearsal!
We have less than 60 days until Election day.
More importantly, we have less than 35 days to register people to vote!
I did not know during the primaries that when I moved, I would have to re-register. I had to fly to Los Angeles from San Francisco on Super Tuesday to vote for Barack Obama! My friend drove 45 minutes to her polling place from work, only to find out that she had been removed from the voter list because she didn't vote in the last election! WE CANNOT LET THIS KIND OF THING HAPPEN, NOT THIS YEAR!!!
I have created a .jpg image of some of the key swing states that we need (Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, etc.) with the deadlines for each for registering to vote. It's called REGISTER.jpg
Please download it ( http://www.pennaomega.com/obama ) and send it to EVERYONE you know, not only in those states, but to everyone... and ask them to send it on to all their friends and family who are supporting Obama/Biden who may not know if they are registered or not.
If you have any questions about the image or want me to make one for one specific state not shown, please post here and I will answer any questions and make one for you!
P.S. Going to Denver next week to register voters and going to Nevada 1st week of Oct. for the same!
This was a post on CNN's Cafferty file. I couldn't have put it better....
The question was,
Do you think Sarah Palin helps or hurts McCain?
I don’t think white men are going to take Palin all that seriously, and although everybody talks about McCain’s need to cut down the gender gap by appealing to women, Palin may actually help Obama gain more working class white men. Palin is a lightweight bossy harpy of the kind all too familiar to a lot of white men. In the new economy, they often have her as a boss — nervous, patronizing, loud, micromanaging, quick to fire or threaten to fire, bringing her personal problems and vendettas into the office, forcing you to consider her husband’s opinions, preening and narcissistic and disrespectful of subordinates, competitive with the women and preemptively, aggressively defensive with the men. -JH from NYC
I woke up this am to the sight of the cover of the New Yorker Magazine. I totally agree and understand the "Freedom of Speech" arguement that I heard all day, but I have to say that this is something of a different nature.
When asked, some 30% of American's think Barack is a Muslim, many say "they do not KNOW him", they say that because it's easier to say than "I am not comfortable with him because he's black". I hate myself when I write this... I hate that I have to write it, but I do because I don't think anyone in the media is really addressing this issue.
When you don't "know" someone you get to know them... right? Wouldn't you ask him/her questions, study or read about them, preferably from their own words (books)? Wouldn't you do your homework? So to me, to just say that they don't know him, really says "I don't WANT to know him".
The NY Mag was just another low class attempt at adding fuel to the fire to those who would rather spread false truths and remain in the dark about a candidate than to actually explain/difuse the lies about him. (Let's not even talk about why they'd put Michelle in there..)
The silver lining? Maybe, once again... Barack will use this as an opportunity to address the issues that have kept us running in this hampster ball... it's time to stand up against this kind of behavior!!
I met Barack's sister Maya on Tuesday night here in Mill Valley. She was sweeter than I expected, although I'm now more surprised that I would have thought any differently. It was a small group, 60 people and they had to turn away 60 people, so it was really nice to have a chance to actually talk to her one on one. Later in the night she told some fantastic stories of growing up with Barack and their mother and their grandmother. She told a great story of taking her mother out to dinner one night. The waitress asked if they would like drinks before dinner. Her mother said "I'd like a lemonade." The waitress asked, "would you like it virgin or would you like something in it?" "Oh, that's a great idea....! Yes, let's put a little sugar in it!" Such a great Mormonesque type story! I could have told the same story about my own mom! :)
I had a blast, she's amazing... She's the kind of person I would have been friends with in college and stayed friends with as adults. Warm, whitty, intelligent (she's got a Phd in education, history and something else). She is a teacher in Hawaii, which is also a fantastic thing for all of us, as who better to give input on what needs to be changed in our educational system, but by a teacher!
So many fantastic stories she told... Their mother taking them on walks with magnifying lenses looking under rocks to see all the bugs and waking them up at night to see the moon and stars...
Playing scrabble with Barack each Christmas... and never being able to beat him!
Grandma who still lives in the apartment that she and Barack grew up living in...
It will be so nice to have intelligent siblings for once with our President (think back on all those from the last 20 years... yikes!)
Down to earth, self-achiever and strong family bond.... All around good person. What more can we ask in a President!
:)
Plain and simple.
NO HILLARY CLINTON as VP.
We will surely lose if Barack goes back on all that he represents, just to satisfy the Clinton dynasty. He will lose support from his side, from the Independents and from the MANY Republicans who are voting for him in November.
Let us not forget about the Peter Pauls case in Los Angeles against Hillary (Google it) that is ONGOING as well as ALL the other garbage the Clintons have in their past/present, etc. We do not need that baggage in our campaign, in our white house, in our Country. The GOP will use all of that and more to discredit him if he bows down to them.
STAY on course Barack.... Don't lose focus.... We love you and we love this country too much!!
" 'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. "
She needs to be shunned, denounced and rejected not only from the primary campaign but from the Democratic party AND Senate.
I do not want to see, hear or read about anything Hillary Clinton has to say EVER again!
I found this article on DailyKos.com (see link)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/12/184747/973/89/485030
I was not at the San Francisco event, but the one a few hours earlier in Marin... To think that he meant anything negative is just silliness.
I live in western Pennsylvania, and I can tell you, people here are bitter and angry. Poverty is prevalent. People hunt squirrels and eat them, along with racoon stew. People also hunt deer here, not for sport, but so they can put meat in their freezer so they can feed their families. They cut wood in the forests and heat their homes with wood stoves because they can't afford to pay the gas bill. I know a guy who goes to old landfills to dig up old milk and beer bottles to sell on eBay. He uses the proceeds to buy clothes for his family at the Salvation Army (and to pay for his dial-up connection).
Racism and prejudice are ever-present here. A friend of mine is part-owner of bar in a small rural town south of where I live. I meet up with him there occasionally and watch as down-and-out people come in with their disability and welfare check money and drink it away. It's a pretty depressing place, but it does serve as the social center for a town that has seen its few industries shut down and the local people's jobs eliminated or shipped off elsewhere.
I hear the usual rants there, that it's all the fault of gays and minorities and immigrants (although those aren't the terms used, but rather the usual, virulent slurs). A black man walked in the last time I was there, and a guy near me at the bar muttered in a not-so-quiet way, "What's he think he's doing in here?" When I brought up the presidential race and Obama with another man at the bar, his response was, "there ain't no way America is ever going to vote for a black guy." Later on my bar-owner friend told me about his experience talking about Obama with another woman at the bar, and her angry response was that "it's because of half-breed n*****s like him that America is in such bad shape today."
Prejudice, racism and fear do run rampant in areas like this. People are poor. They are in bad health, overweight from a deep-fried diet, and toothless from the lack of dental care. They are unemployed. They are uneducated. They do cling to their hunting rifles and to their religious beliefs. For many, it is about all that they have. The towns around here are full of decaying, boarded up buildings. People live in rundown old trailers with abandoned cars in the front yard. I have seen people using an old car as a stable, with their goat tied to and living in it. I could drive you by a least three old houses that have Conderate flags in the windows.
So go ahead and discount Obama's talk of how bitter and angry that some of the people of rural Pennsylvania are. Call him elitist for taking the time to pass through areas such as this to listen to what the people have to say, and to then relate what he has heard to people in more prosperous parts of the country when he is asked about it. I have lived in San Francisco, and let me tell you, there is a marked difference between the general attitude there and the attitude here in the "rust belt". Go ahead and dismiss everything that Obama said as political posturing. Let Hillary and McCain "pick him apart" and parse his words. But please keep in mind that when Obama said:
"it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
that he is 100% accurate in his assessment.
I know, because I live here, my family and my friends' families have lived here for generations, and we see it every day, all around this region. There is a very fine line between poverty and prosperity here, where making above $20,000 a year puts you in the realm of the "haves", but also knowing that you're one contract termination away from joining the ranks of the "have-nots".
I come from a family of dairy farmers. I know what it's like to spend up to 12-16 hours a day sitting on a tractor for three dollars an hour, which I did through high school and every summer until I was fortunate enough to head off to college. Many of my friends were also fortunate and went to school, and then relocated to other parts of the country. Some of us were able to come back under better circumstances, but the large majority of people here are not as fortunate.
Thirty years worth of the right wing dismantling our public education system has taken its toll. Thirty years worth of mismanagement of the economy, of shutting down factories and shipping jobs out of the country, of subsidizing corporate farms and taxing family farms out of business, has taken its toll.
Yes, people are angry, and bitter, but Obama never said that they aren't resilient, opitmistic or hard-working. Those are Hillary and McCain's twisted words, and for them to stand up and suggest that rural Pennsylvanians aren't fed up with the way things are, only reveals how out of touch they really are with at least this part of the country.
Of course, all McCain has to do is suggest to poor rural folk that the party of gun-control, gay marriage, and NAFTA is going to take away what little they have left, and rural conservatives will vote for him, just as they did for Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. As for Hillary, the more she "takes apart" Obama's message, the more she does the GOP's work for free. If Hillary can't see that the people of rural Pennsylvania are bitter, and angry, and mad as hell about the way things are, then she needs to step down from that one hundred million dollar platform of hers and take a real look around.
In western Pennsylvania I hear two things: the "God, Guns and Guts" crowd see John McCain as the heir-apparent to the mantle of rural conservative values; and the people who hope for some kind of change see Barack Obama as the person who understands the situation that we are in, and maybe is the one who can lead us in a new direction. What I don't hear is anyone talking about whatever and whomever it is that Hillary claims to stand for.
In the end, I think this is all a "lost in translation" much ado about nothing episode.
Going back to Obama's statement, and keeping in mind that he was speaking to a specific group of supporters in San Francsico, and keeping in mind that he was discussing a variety of "talking points" in the previous paragraph, I think that it is the absence of the word "issue" in this particular portion of his response to one of the attendee's questions that is lost in translation from the actual event to the transcript spun in the media.
So let's break it down:
"'Well, what is this guy going to do for me? What's the concrete thing?' What they wanna hear is -- so, we'll give you talking points about what we're proposing -- close tax loopholes, roll back, you know, the tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Obama's gonna give tax breaks to middle-class folks and we're gonna provide health care for every American. So we'll go down a series of talking points.
Obama is offering: - closing tax loopholes - roll back taxes for the top 1 percent - tax breaks to the middle class - health care for every American
But:
"But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them."
"So it's not surprising then that they get bitter" and "As a way to explain their frustrations...they cling to" issues that focus on: - guns - religion - antipathy to people who aren't like them - anti-immigrant sentiment - anti-trade sentiment
It's the usual laundry list of GOP hot-button talking points.
What Obama was doing was contrasting his talking points, with the tradtional GOP talking points that he has to contend with if he is going to break through and reach these tradtional blue-collar voters.
I can't imagine that anyone who was in the room with Obama misunderstood this. It's only when the transcript is removed from the context in which the information was delivered that the MSM begins to spin it into something that it's not.
This post will be short and sweet. Yesterday I met Barack Obama!! I was invited to a fundraiser for him that was given by a couple here in Marin, just minutes from my home. All I dreamed of the night before was what I would say to him IF I had the chance to actually talk to him face to face.
As we entered the party, children were outside with a lemonade stand while neighbors walked their dogs and curiously tried to peek around to see if they could catch a glimpse of our next President! Others stood outside with their gardening sheers, just hoping to see him pass by and wave.
After his speech he answered many questions from people in the audience... Nothing was canned, all answers were thoughtful and provoking. He not only spoke of our need to give back, but our need to lift ourselves up and be accountable for ourselves.
As he was leaving the event (he had spoken for about 45 minutes and then answered questions for another 20 or so) he was shaking hands and meeting folks... He came my way and looked over at me and I held out my hand. I then told him I am an Iraqi American and I have been a supporter from the beginning (actually before that... ever since his 2004 speech!!) I then told him that on Super Tuesday I flew to Los Angeles jJUST to vote for him (see my old blog on THAT event!!) and he grabbed my hand even stronger and Thanked me for telling him that. He then asked where my father was born and to be totally honest... I blanked out a bit cause all I really remember is the fact that he was still holding my hand! Now I've had my run in's with those married men who shake your hand and you end up feeling a little sick/molested... you know those guys, right?! Well I can tell you straight up... Not Barack. We're not gonna have another Bill in the White House! :)
But seriously... I had a blast... he's fantastic... I can't wait for January 21, 2009!
