Last weekend we made the drive to Scranton to see Bill and Hillary and Joe and Jill Biden. Lovely scenery through the Poconos, and about 7,000 people showed up. We waited in a long line along the Lackawanna River for over an hour to get into the indoor recreation complex where the rally was held.
Many people from different backgrounds, different walks of life were there: senior citizens, Hillary supporters, Biden fans, veterans, Catholics...such a diverse group all there for one thing: change. People were selling t-shirts and campaign buttons (and other things--one creative guy was selling men's red briefs with white trim that said "No more Bush" on the front. The gentleman behind us bought a pair for $15). Dozens of volunteers wandered around with clipboards to register everyone and remind us all of the security rules (no liquids brought inside, electronics on so they could make sure they were working).
When we finally got inside, rally signs were handed out to the VIP section ahead of us (firefighters and FTA teachers' union, I believe), but we got a few passed back to the rest of us. Lots of "Hillary Sent Me" buttons, too. Handpainted signs endorsed Biden and reminded us that Scranton supports Obama. A giant flag hung on one side.
The heat overcame a few people, despite the air conditioning. We were packed in tightly trying to see. We had a good spot next to the stage. Jill Biden spoke first, and then Bill took the stage. Hillary spoke next and introduced Joe Biden. The crowd was excited throughout and were really charged up.
I highly recommend attending a rally if you can.
We trekked over to Scranton, PA from North White Plains, NY to listen to Hillary, Bill, Joe and Jill. After a 2 hour trip we found a tiny driveway almost obscured by a car wash and I wondered if this was the place. When we arrived we found an almost empty parking lot, since we got there at 10:30 AM for a 3:00PM show. Technically the doors were set to open at 1:15 PM. After finding way too many t-shirts that we loved we settled on a few and donned them. We walked toward the line forming outside the Sports Arena, which was a metal sided building similar to the Office's Dunder Miflen building. Waiting in the hot sun we met a few really great people and it helped to pass the hours away as we all shared our stories and how we came to be there in Scranton today.
At about 12:00 a Volunteer came over and asked us if we wanted to be on the stage and we said of course. So we all got green bracelets and were sent to stand with the media trucks until it was time to go inside. We were sent through security ahead of everyone else on the line, which had grown to the entire length of the parking lot, and they sat us on bleachers directly behind the stage. We were told that we had to be on our best behavior and they gave us all signs to hold. Cameras pointed at us directly. After standing in the sun for 3 hours it was great to be in an air-conditioned building even if we had to sit sqashed together on metal bleachers that swayed when we all stood on them.
But after a brief speech by Jill Biden who introduced Hillary Clinton who then introduced Bill Clinton, it was all worth it. Bill Clinton is still charismatic and sounds so genuine. He still looks great too! Then Hillary talked and I had never seen her speak in public. I have met her and spoken with her personally, but she is such a great speaker. Then we heard Joe Biden, and if I liked him before today, I love him now. He is a great speaker and he had everyone in that place screaming. I had heard a lot of his speech in bits and pieces, but altogether it is very impressive. At one point he stopped the teleprompter to say a few words about Hillary Clinton and how they were really friends. But the end of his speech was so powerful. He said: "Get up", and fight. He kept saying Get Up and the crowd went wild. I really love Joe Biden and he is such a strong candidate.
Biden said a few choice things about Palin, but when the crowd booed her he said it was okay. He also talked about why the McCain/Palin ticket has gone into the negative because they have no plan to save the economy. He says that the Obama/Biden ticket has a plan for taking care of small businesses and jumpstarting the economy. He talked about Health Care and one thing he said that got the greatest ovation: "We will stop the war in Iraq!!!" As he kept repeating it he got enthusiastic loud cheering.
We need Barack Obama and Joe Biden to win this November and it is time for everyone who has been sitting home and thinking that will do it to think again. Unless you are physically unable to get out please try to volunteer in your local campaign office. Also, talk to your friends and family and try to sway those undecided voters or even those who are leaning toward McCain/Palin. Joe Biden said that "this is the single greatest election we have ever had." We all need to make sure that this time we don't fail to elect the right people. Could you stand another 4 years of McSame? Or do you want to see a way out of this chaos that the Bush Administration has left for us? It is time to do whatever you can to get out the vote.
After being at this rally I am going to donate as many hours as I can to electing Obama and Biden. My children's future and my own and more importantly, 90% of this country needs them to be elected. So don't wait. Do whatever you can. If you speak to an undecided voter ask them which candidate is going to do the most for them. Get Up and go speak to whomever you can. Our country's life depends upon it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1exiyBYnJ00
Wow.
August 24, 2008
Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY
WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama has chosen Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware to be his running mate, turning to a leading authority on foreign policy and a longtime Washington hand to fill out the Democratic ticket, Mr. Obama announced in text and e-mail messages early Saturday.
Mr. Obama’s selection ended a two-month search that was conducted almost entirely in secret. It reflected a critical strategic choice by Mr. Obama: To go with a running mate who could reassure voters about gaps in his résumé, rather than to pick someone who could deliver a state or reinforce Mr. Obama’s message of change.
Mr. Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is familiar with foreign leaders and diplomats around the world. Although he initially voted to authorize the war in Iraq — Mr. Obama opposed it from the start — Mr. Biden became a persistent critic of President George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq.
Here I sit, twelve hours later, and I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my daughter and I saw OUR NEXT PRESIDENT. We not only saw Barack, I shook his hand, he gave my daughter a huge smile, I got my copy of "The Audacity of Hope" signed, and I was able to tell Barack something very special....
I live on Social Security Disability - at least for now - and I get paid on the 3rd day of each month. So, as anyone who only gets paid once a month knows, those last few days are really rough. So, it was with a very sad heart that I realized that I would not have enough gas to get to the Town Hall and back (roughly 100 miles, round-trip), and still have gas to get to my doctor's appointments on Wednesday.
When (I don't know if she would want me to say her name, but she's awesome) from the national campaign's Scranton, PA office learned that I could not attend for that reason, she offered to give me money for gas to get me through till Thursday. I nearly cried when she said she would do that for my daughter and me.
So, when we got to the hall, there she was, waiting with our tickets - VIP SEATING NO LESS!!! I thought "How much better can this get?" I was about to find out!
Of course, Barack's speech and the question/answer session were great. Plenty of applause lines, as you'd expect. As he concluded, I made my way forward to try to be one of the lucky ones to shake his hand, and, maybe, get my copy of "Audacity..." signed. The campaign workers took tons of copies of "Dreams..." and "Audacity..." for Barack to sign after he left the hall, and then they brought them back to all of us, so that made my day REALLY great....but there's more!
As I shook Barack's hand, I said: "I want you to know that I am only here today because one of your campaign workers gave me money to get gas, because she really wanted me and my daughter to be here today. THAT'S the kind of people you have working for you here!" He replied, "I'm glad...that's inspiring!"
It really was an amazing day. And that campaign worker knows who she is, and I hope that she also knows that her act of generosity will never be forgotten by me or my daughter.
I love being part of this. Feel free to share this story as you talk about Barack and this movement we are creating. And if this link works, check out some of the pictures from the Town Hall!
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn173/ZenRNforObama/ObamaTownHall/?action=view¤t=ObamaTownHall005.jpg
Thanks!
Diana and Vivian
Mrs. Clinton's re-incarnations continue, from Ohio's beer-drinking waitress to Scranton, Pennsylvania's coal miner's great-granddaughter. Maybe she'll sing some of Loretta Lynn's classics (please sing for us!). And, her father Hugh E. Rodham played football for Penn State.
"Look for the image shapers to link the values of this gritty region — where her grandfather, descended from Welsh coal miners, raised his family — to her character and especially her perseverance. “She’s tough,” Christopher Doherty, Scranton’s mayor, said in an interview. “That’s a real Scranton trait. That’s an anthracite trait.” ... He said that even if Mrs. Clinton did not have local ties, the region would probably vote for her because its demographics closely match those of voters in other states who have supported her: white, female, over 50, Catholic, blue collar and on the lower end of the scales measuring education and affluence. Polling suggests that those voters favor her in part because of her goal of providing universal health care, her blueprint for the economy and the better economy during Bill Clinton’s administration.
Her supporters here hope that her local roots will help her do something she rarely does on the stump: connect the dots between those policies and her life."
Read the whole article in March 10 New York Times at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/us/politics/10scranton.html?ex=1205812800&en=409672c250bdcd16&ei=5070
I'm new to the site and am feeling my way around. I was wondering if anyone knew of a campaign headquarters for Sen. Obama here in Lackawanna county, Scranton area. PLease let me know I am willing to donate all my time up until Pa primary comes along.
Kass
