14YOD and I arrived at the Sheraton downtown around 4:45 yesterday afternoon to find the line for Barack Obama’s Alabama campaign kickoff snaking back and forth through the lobby. She was tired from a long weekend at the beach with the church youth group but still excited about seeing Obama. The crowd around us was in good spirits despite the wait, and once we started moving, we got into the ballroom with no delay.
The event opened with a local nine-year-old girl reading a letter she had written to Sen. Obama outlining the problems she hoped he could solve as President. Call me cynical, but I think she might have had a little help composing her missive. It was still a sweet moment. She was followed by a local drum line, which I loved, because it brought back my (long ago) marching band days. Charles Barkley, basketball star at Auburn University and in the NBA, continued warming up the crowd, detailing his support for Obama and promising that he’ll run for governor of Alabama.
Sen. Quinton Ross (D-Montgomery) then introduced US Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), who is serving as Obama’s state campaign chair. Artur almost brought me to tears when he said, “If you walk outside of this Sheraton and walk…for ten minutes, you’re in the shadow of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. I know there’s someone in this audience wo lived in Birmingham in 1963, and they could not have imagined someone who looks like me would be on this stage introducing…Barack Obama…the next President of the United States.” I didn’t live in Birmingham in 1963, but I’m old enough to be amazed and delighted by how far we’ve come as a society since that time.
Obama hit on the issues that are common themes among the Democratic candidates: education, health care, energy, the environment, and the Iraq war. Then he moved on to his vision of America — short on specifics but full of optimism that the American people want what’s best for our country and are willing to pull together to get there. He spoke about his work as a community organizer, and I could see how he would excel in a position that requires the ability to unite people with different agendas in a common cause, cat-herding on a grand scale. Which, when it comes to his somewhat thin qualifications to serve as President, was more impressive to me than his political experience. He still maintains his belief in the innate goodness of people, and that can be a powerful message in a time when we find ourselves so divided by partisanship and an administration that seems to be reaching for the lowest common denominator.
After the speech, we headed out for Mexican food. 14YOD observed that Obama made it sound so simple to solve our problems. But she opined that that was a good thing, because he also makes it seem possible. Then, as if by design, John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” started playing on the radio. I guess we are.
As always, it was good to see fellow bloggers covering the event — links here:
This looks like a case of “if you make it cheap enough, they will come” — bloggers that is. Great to have so many good write-ups on this and I hope the other campaigns will take the hint and do some low dollar events here. As I recall, Chris Dodd’s visit also drew a large crowd a few weeks ago.
mooncat, several of those bloggers had press passes. I was going to ask for one but decided not to when my daughter asked to go. Didn’t know if I could get away with pretending she was my photographer.
Yeah, Chris Dodd drew around 300 to his town hall meeting here last month (and it was free). I was impressed by the turnout and by him.
I’ve heard that several of the Democratic candidates are going the low-cost, high-attendance route, and I think that’s a good thing, as more people have the opportunity to see the candidates up close and personal.
I agree that holding events that regular folks can afford is a good idea in general, especially if you’re running a populist campaign. If I weren’t working 50-60 hours a week right now I would have liked to come down. Just listening to Charles Barkley is almost always worth the price of admission. That guy is a riot – because he doesn’t beat around the bush. If he’s serious about running for governor then he needs to move here so that he can meet residency requirements (last I heard he was living in Arizona).
Brian, Charles was great. More serious than he usually is when he’s speaking for public consumption. I wish you could have been there.
Charles Barkley! I have to tell my daughter. She loves him, ever since he used to wash her hair when she was little. (We had a big cup from some place with his picture on it, and I would fill it up and pour it over her head to rinse out shampoo, telling her Charles Barkley, who she didn’t know from Adam, was washing her hair. She grew up to be a big bball fan.)
KathyF, I love it!