I am only 24, so I haven't been to many Presidential campaign rallies. In fact this was my second ever - the first being a Kerry rally on the eve of the 2004 election. The feeling I had between that rally and this one was a night and day difference. At the Kerry rally, while I was excited for the election I found myself biting my lip and wishing I was watching Governor Dean on stage instead. I went and cast my ballot for him nevertheless, and the rest is history. Last night, though, I felt moved. I've never experienced someone quite like that before in my life. Me being me, I just had to take pictures, and the results are below.
The crowd entering the arena.
For a good view of how the arena looked at basically capacity, here's a video I took. The Youtube quality is rather terrible but you can download it as a much higher quality movie here (DIVX / 1.8MB).
The Hopemonger-in-chief takes the stage
Senator Obama wasted little time in getting to the point on this night. He basically began by saying since he hasn't campaigned in Michigan as of yet, he might as well start off with a bang. He did so, and introduced his biggest endorser yet - former Senator John Edwards. Like above, the Youtube video came out with terrible quality, and you can download this as a much higher quality movie here (DIVX / 5.7MB).
Edwards talks about how he believes in Obama's message and how it is time to unite the Democratic Party. Amen to that.
This was my favorite picture of the night.
...and then, from 500 feet away, Mr. Obama decides to look directly into my camera.
...and the hope train moves on.
As for the entirety of the speeches their selves? Edwards was a wonderful speech speaking of unity for the party between himself, Mr. Obama, and Senator Clinton. While many people in the audience did applaud, the mention of her name did bring a few boos and hisses from the crowd - so yes, there is a fracture out there that needs to be healed. I think that if she were to drop out and get behind Obama, it would only be a matter of time before those wounds would heal.
Edwards also hammered on the themes of ending poverty, ending the disparity in education between the rich and poor districts, ending the idea of homeless vets, and bringing health care to everyone. Each idea was met with thunderous applause and even though it was already implicit in Obama's campaign that he was for all of these things, hearing Obama say right then and there he supported everything that Edwards wants to do gave a warm reassuring feeling to my heart. I really hope Edwards sees a Cabinet-level position, perhaps the Attorney General spot even.
Obama's speech was amazing. I have never heard someone talk like this before in person. He knows how to work a crowd and get them to their feet. He said proposal after proposal that made me want to wind the clock forward to January of 2009 so we could get a start on all of this - everything from what Edwards said to creating an America where "if you work you should not want" to mentioning upgrading our infrastructure - right down to broadband internet deployment, it was all amazing, I agreed with it all, and for the first time in my young life - a politician has inspired me. At the rate I'm going, depending on how the summer goes I might just do some volunteer work, or slap Obama signs up in places, something - anything to help this man win this state and win this presidency.
The atmosphere was electric and I am thrilled I went. Everyone there was happy and in a great mood. I loved the environment. I am officially drunk on the hope-aid. I am on the Hopemonger bandwagon. Here's to change, and here's to hope. Here's to Obama in this election.
Now, I did promise 59 pictures and videos (you have the two videos so we're down to 57 pictures), but I didn't want to nuke anyone's connection that I didn't have to. So if you would like to see the rest of the pictures I took, you can see them with narration here or just jump straight to the gallery here. A big thank you to anyone ahead of time who likes them.
On a more local note, I have never been to Grand Rapids before - I'm actually from the Detroit area. Your city is rather beautiful, a nice balance between big-city-life and... well... places that still have trees. The restaurants and such downtown were packed after the rally but if I ever do wander back into that neck of the woods (which I might, it seems to nice), does anyone know where I could get a great slice of pizza?
“There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two. And that man is Barack Obama.” - John Edwards, May 14, 2008, Grand Rapids, MI
This big news, former Sen. John Edwards’ endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for President of the United States, signals what philgoblue of WestMichiganRising said to me right after the rally: “I think the general election started in Grand Rapids today.” He’s right.
In both speeches at tonight's rally in Grand Rapids, Edwards and Obama spent significant amounts of time complimenting Hillary Clinton. They spent the rest of the time complimenting each other, with Obama vowing to make Edwards’ anti-poverty crusade a main focus of his administration. Both speeches were fiery, uplifting, and overwhelmingly positive.
Many Michigan Democrats and Independents voting in our January 15 Primary, especially for Obama and Edwards after their great Iowa showing, will be rudely surprised when they do not see Obama, Edwards, Al Gore, Richardson and Biden on the ballot. In frustration, many mistakenly will use the Write-In position on the ballot to vote for their favorite missing candidate. Their votes will be wasted.
Write-In votes are not counted because the rules for this primary election required candidates, who wanted to be written in, to notify the Secretary of State by January 2, and none did so.
This problem needs to be publicized about voting in Democratic Primary. Voters need to know that Write-In votes will not be counted and Protest votes have little chance of getting the minimum 15% needed to earn a delegate to the Denver Convention. The only viable option for many Dems and Independents on Jan. 15 is to vote for Uncommitted slot on the primary ballot.
I'm not a Democrat. And frankly I am put off by the bickering and back-biting that has characterized the Party's battle over the primaries.
I understand the perspective of Michiganders who want their voices heard early in the nomination process. Jobs, a green revolution, rebuilding our infrastructure, protecting workers' rights to join and organize unions, peace, instituting fair trade policies, and ending tax breaks for the Dick DeVos' of the world and giving working families a tax cut are all Michigan issues.
I have been tempted to just throw my hands up and say boycott the primaries. Your vote doesn't count anyway. The Party won't seat those delegates, or will it? And does a two-way race between Sen. Clinton and Rep. Kucinich really reflect what's happening not only in the Democratic Party but more broadly in the country?
But the fact is the president should not belong to a single party. The next president has to be president of all of us. And the fact that Sen. Clinton has decided to thwart the party's rules to gain a delegate advantage suggests she is interested in being the president of the Democrats.
I think Sen. Barack Obama has been right. Sen. Clinton's experience and strong bonds with the national party's machine have both entrenched her in special interests, on the one hand, but more importantly on the other, it means that if she wins the nomination we can expect four years of her butting heads with Republicans on personality issues, while universal health care, ending the war, alternative energy policies, and workers' rights languish.
So that's why I will be going to my precinct, say I am voting Democrat, and voting "uncommitted" on Tuesday Jan. 15th. If you support Edwards or Obama, that is the only way to send a message for change, a message to the Party to get its act together, and take a step forward away from the grinding partisanship and personality bickering that would be the hallmark of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
The squabble to be first in deciding the nation's fate is intensifying. Early states are cleverly inching their primaries in a race to secure voting influence for their citizens. By the end of February, we'll know who the presidential finalists are before more than half the nation gets a chance to vote, let alone meet the candidates. Sound Fair?
The heavily frontloaded primary schedule does all of America a disservice. Leaving the power to decide who the next president of the America can be to a handful of people is just not right. The demographic make up of all the early primary state, even combined, does not accurately represent the American population. For instance, isn't New Hampshire the third wealthiest state in the nation?
With less than a month left, there seems like there's no hope. The Washington Post reports that the American people are being tempted by pessimism, and are losing faith in our political system. But, not to fear.
Register to host a caucus at www.nationalcaucus.com and get involved.
It seems like there's no hope but to accept the circumstances. However, I came across this website, the National Presidential Caucus, that looks to give voters a fair chance to voice their opinions before the primaries kick off. It's not a national primary or anything like that, don't let the name mislead you.
Here's how it works:
1) Post your caucus online
2) Meet offline with some friends, neighbors, whomever to discuss candidates and issues
3) Post your results from your discussions online
It's as simple as that. It's really just an effort to encourage and empower civic engagement and voter opinions. So why not...
How can we claim to go across seas to build a democracy, when our own political system at home is suffering? Get involved. sign up to host a caucus in your neighborhood today.
The campaign for John Edwards is attempting to silence criticism from the UNC School of Journalism over locating Edwards campaign headquarters in a wealthy neighborhood despite Edward's claimed commitment to confronting poverty. Edwards is currently polling a distant third at 8.5% in the South Carolina primary -a crucial early primary for his campaign. Clinton is leading at 38.8% followed by Obama at 25.8%. (source: www.realclearpolitics.com)
Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and an above average poverty rate, particulary in our urban cores and in rural Michigan, yet Edwards, who's made poverty the lead theme of his campaign, won't even allow his name to be placed on the ballot here. Just like in the Carolinas, he talks about poverty to wealthy and upper middle class liberal 'voters of conscience' but, like them, keeps his distance from the real thing.
Elizabeth Edwards pushes back against right-wing pundit Ann Coulter during a live interview on MSNBC yesterday, charging that Coulter's personal attacks on former senator John Edwards and others were based on the language of hate and did nothing to engage the young people standing behind her in the political process, to which the crowd roared.
