Thursday, May 15, 2008

Obama! Obama!

Both of my parents are democrats, so needless to say, it has been quite an adjustment to have so many of my friends now be republicans. Jon is just the opposite. He grew up in a republican household with most of his friends supporting the GOP. Amazingly, this contrast in our upbring has not tainted our marriage. Rather it has helped us keep an open mind about all candidates. More than a year ago, Jon and I made a vow to educate ourselves about the candidates by reading their personal websites (or rather, by watching their video speeches on their websites) and recording and watching every debate from both parties. I can proudly say that we have done a very good job at doing that, although I cannot say that I am anywhere close to being an expert on the candidates. I have, however, had my favorites. I was a die-hard Mitt Romney fan. Not just because he is LDS, but because the man is brilliant and has all the abilities necessary to do exactly what our economy needs, our healthcare needs, our immigration problems need, and so on. He was amazing. And if it weren't for his religion, which people were scared of, and the nasty tricks played by McCain to confuse and sway voters, he could've rocked this primary race. Now, my #2 has been Obama from the start. Although, I was willing to change my mind about him if facts proved necessary. But after going to this rally with my mom and Jon in Indy, there's no way I'm ditching him (unless he doesn't become the nominee, of course. Then I have to make a choice that I would not be thrilled about). The rally was so amazing that it even convinced my mom that he's the best person for the job. She was a die-hard Hillary fan, but once she felt the enthusiasm and the soul-stirring energy from the crowd of supporters and Obama, himself, she changed her mind. Good job mom. Her side of the family wasn't too happy about that, though.

We went to the Hillary rally two nights before and there were maybe 6,000 people. When we approached Obama's it was a whole different story. It was so sweet. There were all sorts of people who showed up. And for the sceptics, no, they weren't all black. They were all ages, poor, rich, everything. It brought tears to my eyes to see so many people care about politics, and for probably getting involved for the first time in their life. It was so moving. Everyone had a smile on their face and was so friendly and happy. People's eyes were just shining. It felt so good, the spirit was strong, really good vibes. In terms of numbers, there was around 21,000 people. A whopping difference to Clinton's turnout. Yea Indy!

Why is Jon smiling so big? Well, to top off the whole experience, we were all surprised by a performance given by the one and only Stevie Wonder! He is one of Jon's favorites. It was super cool. And it was free! Sweet.

People wanted to be able to see Obama so badly that they even climbed trees to get a better view. I was stunned. These people really cared a lot. We found some spots on a little hill next to a ton of people and right in front of a group of handicap people. It was so crowded that everyone was practically sitting on each other's laps. The people sitting by us were pretty cool. Just really good people. We were so glad that we went. Gosh, that would be great if Obama picked Romney as his VP (yeah, that's just a little unlikely and too contradicting, but then I would get the best of both worlds. If only politics were perfect).
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1 comment:

jon and dorsey said...

I forgot to mention how it was raining on everybody, too, and the crowd still stayed!