Manic Monday - Hello Hillary!

Monday morning started off a bit rough for me, to be honest. I spent the weekend in DC visiting old friends, taking my nephew to the zoo, sorting out our storage unit, and feeling guilty that I wasn’t back in PA at the campaign office. I drove back to Philly early Monday morning and came into the office at about 11am. When I got there, I learned that everyone was out except a volunteer named Monica, minding the office. “Everyone’s gone to the Hillary rally!” she said. “Crap!” I thought. I’m such a loser- this must have been scheduled over the weekend (I vaguely recalled hearing on the news the announcement that the Clintons had announced a new blitz of rallies in Pennsylvania for Obama) and I wasn’t around to hear about it, and get scheduled to volunteer. I’m really not in the “in” volunteer group, I thought – they didn’t even call me! (which is sort of true, since a lot of the regular volunteers from Lansdale have been around since the primaries, and have major streed cred that I don't have.)So instead of sulking, I realized that it was quite close to town, so I decided to drive there and attend it anyway. I mean, I wanted to see Hillary! I was still early enough and when I went to go through the gate, I saw Sheila. I asked if she needed any help, and sure enough she handed me a clipboard and put me to work!!! The rally was at a beautiful state park, and the weather couldn’t have been better, not to mention the fall leaves that were already turning beautiful fall colors. The energy there was contagious and although I’ve heard most of the pieces of her speech in media clips here and there before, I have to say that even I, in my jaded, “I hate canned speeches and prefer to be an intelligent snob and vote based on the issues,” thing, was inspired and cheering and jumping up and down by the end. She really is an amazing woman, and when she came down off the podium and shook hands and greeted people in the crowds, I was about two feet away from her at one point. It was really cool.

What resonated with me so much in her speech, is when she spoke about how many people in the US today hate politics, and see the presidential campaign as a symbol of all the negativity and, well, BS in politics today (okay that’s me super paraphrasing). She talked about how our country was built on hope, on civic engagement, on empowerment of the people for the future, and all that traditional American democracy stuff. But somehow the way she said it, got me almost choked up. Maybe I see too many people in developing countries who don’t have nearly the opportunities for democracy, or maybe it’s because I see the way our country throws away that opportunity as such a sad shame, but either way, I agreed with her that Obama really does represent something different. But then again, I was already going to vote for him.

In the end, I started out my Monday driving home to PA in the dark, having to stop multiple times for coffee to stay awake, just to be back to work on the campaign.
But a depressing start ended with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the chance to really get to know the other volunteers better and show that I’m a reliable volunteer too. And oh, there were these home-grown vendors that just showed up out of the blue at the rally. I bought a really crazy hot pink pin for my friend Melissa in Philly that says, “Hot Chicks Dig Barack Obama!”