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Feb
26
Almost exactly three hours from the moment I left my house, three kids and spouse finishing a lovely homemade supper (if I do say so myself, tandoori chicken, Spanish rice, salad, grapefruit), I’m sitting back at my desk in the kitchen fiddling with timestamps so that the posts about the Barack Obama campaign stop are in order.
And I’m collecting my thoughts.
Part I
With great trepidation I say that what started the evening, the comment from the tow truck driver, is what stuck in my mind at the end of the evening as well: Barack Obama draws people. People who need to have someone like him want him to be “it” – whether or not he really is “it” or “it” really is his time.
But what about the people who don’t want him? Or won’t ever want him? Or don’t ever think there will be a time for him? What about those people?
Like the tow truck driver said, “I wouldn’t want to be the first black president, no way. Just like Kennedy.”
Haunted me as the crowd dispersed, the band played, the cheerleaders sauntered, Wendell packed up, Anthony packed up and Obama stood with forty or fifty individuals near the catwalk but standing on the gym floor.
I asked Wendell and Anthony if they thought it could really happen. I asked my husband if he thought it could happen. Just like Kennedy.
Talk about history repeating itself. Gives me big, creepy chills.
Part II
I want to give a big thank you to
Wendell for making contact with Obama’s campaign, finding me in the risers, giving me a chair while he bent over the entire time,
George for giving me the last minute info so I could actually know where it was and whether I could go,
Anthony for shouting my name from the rafters (how many middle-aged women get that kind of attention, especially with Barack Obama being the main attraction),
Anastasia for waving wildly at me so it looked to others in the Obama camp as though I belonged there,
Sarah Leonard of the Obama camp who let me in even without looking at any ID and simply because I said I was with Meet the Bloggers and I was looking for an SLEONARD which was her,
the nice police officer who helped me find Sarah Leonard,
Jerid and Mark Naymik for the comraderie when I first got there,
And last but not least, my family for adjusting to a quick change of plans and making it possible for me to go – on a school night no less.
I’m a lucky person indeed and take none of these people or their actions for granted.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:04 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | 7 Comments
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Feb
26
jimi izrael on NPR, Talk of the Nation re: VA quasi-apology to slaves
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So there I am, barely able to hold my head up and watching the road while shuttling a child from school to music lesson and back home before my other kids get home (just forget about that Obama thing) when what do I hear the comfortable but not particularly stimulating voice of Neal Conan say?
Woohoo! Go jimi, I’m thinking. Because if jimi is talking about something, there’s sure to be some good chat.
And indeed there was. You can go here to listen. Way to go, jimi.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:56 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Not a single mention of faith or religion
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That really surprises me. Let’s take a quick look at his website.
I seem to recall that he’s been the candidate who has most thrust into the public the idea that we shouldn’t run away or ignore or leave out the discussion of religion when we discuss politics. It’s important to me that religion not be wielded the way Ken Blackwell wielded it, and that everyone who isn’t an extreme rightwing idealogue demand the respect they deserve for however they embrace faith or a moral value system.
But, for better or worse, no mention of that here tonight.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:38 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Faces in the crowd
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Very varied, very varied. Not too many on the 105 year end. Every other strata, here. Female, male. Black and white – not even but far more than you might think. Possibly due to being here in the burbs.
What is that about? How do the folks on the ground for Obama make that decision? I imagine Subodh might have some ideas about that. Was it a good place? I don’t know enough to say.
Are these registered voter types? Also not sure. Is the goal to get the voters interested first re: get them to become primary voters?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:35 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
If she’s not tired, I’m not tired
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Well, yeah, but Barack – you’re a LOT younger. You’re younger than me I think.
Okay – 31 minute speech. On to…I’m not sure. He goes into the crowd, shaking hands. Not much security for him that I can see.
Could the tow guy be right? Wow – that is REALLY a scary thought.
I hope people will comment on that. Would someone assassinate this man?
Enormous sigh. Wow. Just think about that.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:31 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Feb
26
ODP story coming back at ya
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“Sometimes I get tired but when I get tired I remember a woman I met before I got elected to the Senate.”
He goes backstage just before going out on stage and meets the woman and they talked and had a picture.
Her name was Marvery (?) Lewis – 105 years old.
Okay – he told this story at the ODP. So…I’m guessing he doesn’t expect there to be much overlap, eh?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:28 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
The Blogger Roles
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Anthony: Moving Pictures
Wendell: The skeptic
Jill: Transcribing with eyes closed
Can’t say for Jerid – you’ll need to check BSB
What’s very cool is having a variety of impressions and then picking apart why I disagree with what Wendell’s seeing and he disagrees with what I’m seeing or hearing. And yet, in the end, we’re actually getting similar senses from what we think should be said and shouldn’t be said, regardless of whether he follows that vision.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:25 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | 5 Comments
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Feb
26
Te Amo Obama
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Sign in the crowd.
Now focusing on the kids. “We must rebuild international institutions and rebuild countries that have collapsed – we need to think about nations like Darfur – not jut because we have a humanitarian and moral commitment to stopping genocide but because when kids are brought up in that, the children” suffer.
Notice absence of any mention of faith. Doesn’t that differ from other speeches he’s given? The political tailoring of the words, the phrases, the sound bites.
I’m so cynical.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:19 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
He says that he said in 2002 when he was elected that this war was a mistake.
Oy. I don’t think this is wise of him, IMO.
Stick to what he’s saying now: however you felt then, it’s time to give the Iraqis their country back.
No argument from me on that.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:18 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Feb
26
We know what to do
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This part of his presentation, speech, announcement, campaign stump, is calculated to indicate, to instill a belief, a sense, a counterweight to the concern that he’s not experienced enough.
It’s wise for him to stay away from votes about Iraq since he wasn’t there and wasn’t faced with what the other Dems who were in the Congress faced. I agree – he needs to stay away from it, and should stick to comforting people that he has the answers, and the leadership to get the answers implemented.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:16 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Building building building
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Walking in a circle as he speaks, at the end of the catwalk. Simple, clear. Leave the complaints in the beginning, forward the solutions in the middle and the problem-solver? Well – that’s him. The conclusion.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:13 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Speaking, relaxed
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Brass in pocket? I don’t know but he may need it along the route to the Democratic nomination.
His voice is as firm as it was in June but he doesn’t look as insistent – probably because he’s not leaning over, talking over whomever was speaking
“We expect to win Ohio!”
Says turnout “exceeded all expectations” “but I gotta say that this is how we roll these days. It began on Feb. 10th, when I stood in front of the old state capitol in Springfield, IL and joined 17,000 of my best friends to announce that I was running for the presidency of the United States of America!”
“I must admit I was a little worried because it was 7 degrees that day and I was worried that no one would show up yet they came from far and wide and the turnout exceeded all expectation and I remember people were huddled and all bundled up …but they stayed because they felt that maybe something was happening and that the country was ready for a change!” (crowd roars)
“And so we went on to Iowa and we took that spirit to Iowa and everywhere we went we saw huge crowds – I took my family with me – this time I had my wife and older daughter with me 8 and 5, my motherinlaw, godmother and nieces and nephews, the whole family rolling down the highway in a convoy in a big bus…”
“I’m seeing my daughters and I go over to them. The older one, and I ask, are you having fun? Yeah Dad I really wanted to come one of these trips. And after a while she says, “What are we doing here again? why are we here?” Okay – he’s told that one too.
“My five year old says that “this is part of daddy’s president thing.”
“If I’d had time to give a more full answer, I’d say the same thing tonight – what are we doing here? We are here because the country is at a crossroads.
“We are here because for too many years, we’ve known the challenges we’ve faced but we haven’t faced them squarely or honestly…
“We know that in a country that spends 1.9 trillion a year on health care – having 46 million people uninsured makes no sense…
“Too many people are getting left behind… our scores compared to the rest of the world… college has become too tough because Congress has raised interest on tuition loans…
“The economy is changing and some at the top are doing better than before – CEO of the company seeing his salary go through the roof, yet all around we have people who work every single day who take the bus or the train and do whatever they can to get to work and get home late, try to raise their kids and keep them out of trouble and haven’t seen their wages increase or their salary increase for years.
“We know that we don’t have an energy strategy – we’ve spent 800 million a day for some of the most hostile countries on earth…
“And in the bargain, we’re now melting the polar ice caps and destroying this precious planet earth…” (not much reaction from crowd)
“We’re in the midst of a war that should never have been authorized (big crowd response) and that as a consequence of the war, we have spent over half a trillion that could have been spent rebuilding Ohio and Cleveland – we’ve lost more than 3100 of our bravest young men and women – thousands more have seen their nerves shattered, limbs…
“A consequence of this war ? We’ve seen Afghanistan slip back into Taliban…”
“Our reputation is diminished all over the world..
“So we know what the problems are…
“And we know that the path that we followed has been rejected by the American people -that’s what the November election is about. People said that we won’t accept the war – (crowd riveted – not moving, listening)
“American people are understanding that we need to embrace a vision for the future not just complain about past…
“That’s the moment that we’re in right now – we’re in a moment in which if we make some good decisions, we can do what previous generations have done and we can make a more equal and just…
“If we fail to accept this challenge, then we will be the first leaving a poorer and meaner generation to the future…
“The challenge we have – the reason we’re here – it’s not an absence of solutions – it’s the incapacity of our leadership to pull us together and get to work.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:01 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Enter Obama
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8pm on the dot. Shaking every single hand aong the catwalk. He is slim as a catwalk catwalker too. Someone has done a pastel of Barack and is holding it up along the catwalk.
The crowd goes wild. No overstatement.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:59 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Barbara Byrd-Bennett Scholars on stage
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Now on stage is LaDonna Norris and the Byrd-Bennett Scholars Graduates: (description below is from their 2/12 appearance on WCPN with my favorite PD writer, Margaret Bernstein)
What happens when you take 30 more or less average kids in Cleveland, give them something to shoot for, every reason to succeed and support in doing it? Success. This spring, the Barbara Byrd-Bennett Scholars will graduate and head off to college, some of them with a free ride at Baldwin Wallace. Monday morning on The Sound of Ideas, we’ll talk with a few of the scholars, their advisor, and Barbara Byrd-Bennett herself about the program and the lessons learned.
>Download in MP3
Guests: LaDonna Norris, Baldwin-Wallace College, Barbara Byrd-Bennett Scholar program director; Brandon Floyd, BBB scholar, MLK High School; Quameen Vernon, BBB scholar, John Marshall H.S.; Margaret Bernstein, Plain Dealer reporter; Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Cleveland State University
People who give their life to make other people want to give theirs.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:54 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Crowd stoked by drumline
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Can’t say I blame them – if I wasn’t typing I’d be pounding my feet and whooping too. I love that stuff. (Great movie btw if you’ve never seen it – Drumline.)
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:51 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Totally out-teched
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I need to bring my new teenager with me next time – he’ll know how to work everything. And then tell me what else I need to get with the program.
So – Wendell has this Compact Flash thing with something else next to it in his what looks to be a homemade laptop. Jerid had his brand new MacBook Pro and Anthony has a PowerBook G4, a blackberry – sitting all by its lonesome – I have my son’s fanny pack.
Looks like Wendell’s gone through two sodas and I’m feeling like a camel in need of water.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:47 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
Okay – it was much quieter down in the risers
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Wow – serious drumline echoing up here but the view is much better and Wendell gave up his seat for me. He must be a conservative (JUST KIDDING).
Okay – now I can see tht the room is very full – maybe 11/12ths as my son who is about to have a birthday says about his age. Very different from the ODP dinner when I last met Barack Obama. Now, tonight, here, I don’t believe there are any of the bloggers who were at the table with Obama that night in June. I spoke with Cindy Zawadski late this afternoon and she was unable to make it – I promised I’d try to take pictures and write. So – I’m working it – the picture thing? I might defer to all the good multimedia Anthony of Blue Ohioan is doing and Wendell of Wenblog. Going to add the links to their blogs in later.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:44 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
The Press Riser
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Sitting under the triangle of the tripod, I hope there isn’t a superstition about that space like there is under a ladder.
People are listening. Loud, firm, good speaker – but can’t honestly say what he’s saying. Leader – who do we allow to lead us.
Feels like air conditioning just came on above me. Nice. I’m used to being cold – not here.
There’s an older press guy to my right – with an old IBM stinkpad, um, thinkpad.
Oh – Shaw High School band – very cool. Coming on – #8 in the country.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:32 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Feb
26
OH-Bomba
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Okay – I made it in – I fed everyone in my family – the dishes will be there when I get back – the press table was GONE – they had nothing on me – but a nice tall woman who said she was the sleonard who had emailed with Wendell told me I could go in – and I saw Anastasia P.
It’s warm – not so loud yet – not back to the doors but very full. Mark Naymik is supposedly here somewhere behind me. And Jerid is supposedly here – I haven’t seen anyone else.
Now I just have to hope that they don’t drag my car away like they were doing to the car that had been in my spot. The tow guy – fascinating – said, you here for Obama? I said yeah. He said, “I wouldn’t want to be the first black president, no way. Just like Kennedy.”
Wow – I hope that’s not prescient.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:17 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | 4 Comments
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Feb
26
Obama campaign 2/26/07 Cleveland wrap-up, thank yous
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Almost exactly three hours from the moment I left my house, three kids and spouse finishing a lovely homemade supper (if I do say so myself, tandoori chicken, Spanish rice, salad, grapefruit), I’m sitting back at my desk in the kitchen fiddling with timestamps so that the posts about the Barack Obama campaign stop are in order.
And I’m collecting my thoughts.
Part I
With great trepidation I say that what started the evening, the comment from the tow truck driver, is what stuck in my mind at the end of the evening as well: Barack Obama draws people. People who need to have someone like him want him to be “it” – whether or not he really is “it” or “it” really is his time.
But what about the people who don’t want him? Or won’t ever want him? Or don’t ever think there will be a time for him? What about those people?
Like the tow truck driver said, “I wouldn’t want to be the first black president, no way. Just like Kennedy.”
Haunted me as the crowd dispersed, the band played, the cheerleaders sauntered, Wendell packed up, Anthony packed up and Obama stood with forty or fifty individuals near the catwalk but standing on the gym floor.
I asked Wendell and Anthony if they thought it could really happen. I asked my husband if he thought it could happen. Just like Kennedy.
Talk about history repeating itself. Gives me big, creepy chills.
Part II
I want to give a big thank you to
Wendell for making contact with Obama’s campaign, finding me in the risers, giving me a chair while he bent over the entire time,
George for giving me the last minute info so I could actually know where it was and whether I could go,
Anthony for shouting my name from the rafters (how many middle-aged women get that kind of attention, especially with Barack Obama being the main attraction),
Anastasia for waving wildly at me so it looked to others in the Obama camp as though I belonged there,
Sarah Leonard of the Obama camp who let me in even without looking at any ID and simply because I said I was with Meet the Bloggers and I was looking for an SLEONARD which was her,
the nice police officer who helped me find Sarah Leonard,
Jerid and Mark Naymik for the comraderie when I first got there,
And last but not least, my family for adjusting to a quick change of plans and making it possible for me to go – on a school night no less.
I’m a lucky person indeed and take none of these people or their actions for granted.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:04 pm February 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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