Day 82 and 83: My Political Hangover

For some reason a bunch of us went out Friday night to the Union even though we needed to get up at dawn to catch the Barack Obama show at the Adams Center. Bad choice, but then again, we had a pretty good time out anyway.

When Alisia and I were on the road home from Phoenix a week ago I downloaded Kayne West's song "Good Morning" because I thought it'd be a nice way to wake up – and it usually is save for when Mr. West wakes me at 5 as he did on Obama Day. But regardless of our lack of sleep, Alisia and I woke up and headed off to the event, first meeting Sean, Tonya, Bill and John at Finnegan's for bad coffee and greasy food. It sort of worked out nicely...

Around 7 a.m. we arrived at the line, the end of which was near 6th and Gerald. Here we met "Line Cop" – a man who felt he owned the line and would run it his way. You see, as is often the case, people we knew got there early and we joined them at that point instead of the very back. Capt. Line Cop got pissy, "Is this it cause we keep getting pushed back here...okay?" That condescending "Okay" should have tipped me off that he wasn't joking, but I assumed he was. Wrong. Later when a reporter who works with Sean at the Kaimin showed up to ask some advice, Line Cop got on my ass about it. "Hey, this guy needs to move to the back, okay? He shouldn't be up here."

It was 7:30 a.m. and I was tired as all hell, so instead of responding I just mumbled, "huh?" And then Tonya explained to Line Cop that this guy was leaving. Had I not been half asleep I think I would have reminded the guy about how we all had these things called "tickets" and having a "ticket" would get him "inside" the "event" so he should fuck "himself."

Once we got inside we met the security forces, which sucked. The guy who patted me down felt my asthma inhaler, made me take it out and explain it, and then said, "So you have asthma?" I wanted to say, "No, I carry it around in case someone else does." But that'd been as useful as yelling, "I have a bomb!"

And once inside the Adams Center...we waited...and waited...and [yawn!] waited. At least I got to see this laugh worthy commemorative:

This was just oddly hilarious, particularly when the screen below this
prominently displayed a misspelling of his name.

Those two hours took forever. But then, at 10:14 a.m. the man arrived:

Obama, oh you came and delivered a sermon and inspired a crowd. Obama...

The place went nuts, seriously nuts. For just a moment it seemed like the man wouldn't get to speak because no one would stop clapping. But as much as his words meant something to me, and his candor drew me in and made me even more hopeful than ever that he would be our next president, the most stirring image for me was an old woman across the gymnasium from me.

Normally I don't stare at people, but in this case I did. She was an old woman with one of those white old-lady-afros that scream to be dyed blue, and she was clapping enthusiastically at each thing Obama said. Then the crowd stood to cheer during the peak of one of Obama's promises, I believe to bring the troops home. The old woman obviously had arthritis and she fought to stand up only barely making it to her feet before everyone else sat. But she did not. She clapped solo, quietly, as part of her own standing-O for Obama. Having watched the scene I suddenly was hit with a wave of emotion and appreciation for Sen. Obama – there are few things many people can willfully believe in these days it seems, and I don't think age makes cynicism easier. But there in the Adams Center, with Obama extolling his message of hope, an old woman dismissed her arthritic pain to cheer for him. She believed. I honestly hope that when I'm in my 60s or 70s someone can still make me believe that much.

I'll also say that Obama dropped a damn funny joke after saying his campaign still running strong felt like a miracle: "I mean, I'm a black man with a funny name and big ears." A laugh riot. He also said he wanted to go fly-fishing, a joke he repeated later that night...

The Missoula event ended around 11 a.m., leaving me with 2 hours before I needed to meet Rebecca and Jhwygirl from 4&20 to travel over toward Butte America for the Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner, or as I call it: Barrack 2: This time it's in Butte.

This was Barrack in Butte from my vantage point:

Yeah, I was far away, but his speech was just as moving as in Missoula.

I sat with some family, my undecided parents and my pro-Hillary Aunt and Uncle. But I think Obama won, if not everyone's vote, at least their heart. He just made everyone happy, particularly, again, with his humor by joking that he wanted a Tester haircut, or at least a Tester-tie (Couldn't do either); and to go fishing with Gov. Brian Schweitzer. It was pretty damn good humor even if it was repeated.

A sidenote: later in the night people would tell me that Barack seemed like a preacher giving a sermon. I concur. I've watched people at those megachurches speaking in tongues and acting crazy and always sot of felt like those people needed medication, but with the charisma Barack through out, and the way I felt watching and listening...well, I now get why Joel Olsteen sells books.

After Barack I tried eating my "dinner" provided by the Dems. In a word: Shitska. It was a turkey sandwich that sort of made me sick, but at least it came with a tasty cookie and some Doritos. (Lame!)

Between Obama and Hillary we got Sen. Tester, Gov. Schweitzer, and Sen. Baucus. Let me just say that Baucus is a boring man, but I agree with Mr. Wulfgar! that people didn't to be so disrespectful of him. Yes, Baucus doesn't always bring the gold in speeches, but remember Burns? Yeah, I'm okay with Max when compared to that nutbar. We also heard from South Dakota's Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a very articulate woman who I had to pity given that she was the lead speaker before the big O and H signed on for the dinner. They sort of outshined her, which sucks for her, but oh well.

Another note: I thought it was very nice that Gov. Brian talked about Tester's election, and not so much his own upcoming raise. It was a nice departure from the rest of the evening's "vote for me" speeches.

Hillary's arrival didn't garner the same applause as Obama despite her seeming to have more sign-holders placed around Butte's Civic Center. I've been tougher on Clinton this race because of her, um, "mistake" five years ago by following President Bush to war, but she did a good job Saturday night despite obviously having a cold.

I thought Hillary did good, but someone needed to give her some TheraFlu,
and a couple of cough drops. The girl was sick.

I particularly appreciated her saying that China needs to quit poisoning us all the time...seems like a good policy choice. But when she started talking about how we need out of Iraq I just wanted to scream, "You apologize right now senator!" It came off as half-assed pandering instead of real regret. But then again, I'm just slightly bitter. I was graduating high school when she decided my generation could die in Baghdad...

After the speech I walked out with my family, exchanged some hugs and well-wishes, and then headed off to meet up with Rebecca and Jhwygirl again. En route I ran into a kid I went to High school with named Robbie. He was a Freshman when I graduated, but his uncanny resemblance to me in personality and looks got him dubbed, "Mini-Pat," so I took a shine to him. He's apparently still copying me since I noticed his shirt had a big "Obama voter" logo. Made me damn proud.

After meeting up with the kids we went off to an after party in Uptown Butte where I snagged this picture:

Myself and Sen. Jon "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" Tester.

Yeah I know it's lame to by a fan-boy at a politico event, but it's Jon-fucking-Tester. (I know I normally don't drop the f-bomb on the blog, but Tester deserves that as a middle name since Obama already snagged "Awesome.") The best part about this picture is that right before it was snapped Tester put his arm around me, smiled, and then took a second to say, "Hey, that's a nice coat." Complimenting a Carhartt = Real Montana. As much as I've mocked the fact that Tester looks like the singer Meatloaf, looking at the two of us...I think he and I share an unfortunate resemblance...but that's okay by me.

Early Sunday John tried to wake me up to go see Hillary at the hanger, but I ignored his call and slept in until noon. I'd seen her once already, and seeing as I support Obama, why bother? But I hear it was an okay time so that's good.

All I did Sunday was hang with Alisia and catch the new Jack Black flick Be Kind Rewind. Even though it was kind of nonsensical in some parts, and barely held a story together, I liked it enough to recommend a matinée visit.

Okay, it's 2 p.m. Monday and I need to quit blogging. Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday...I was just kind of tired. I'll stop by later for a quickie post.