See? It’s only the 6th day of the year, and already I’m blogging. Now if I can keep my other resolutions I’ll be an amazing person of incredible conviction.
In the meantime, I must write about our extraordinary weekend attending some of the New Hampshire Primary events. Every four years my brother-in-law arranges a huge caravan and all these previously disconnected people go to the various events, then get together that Saturday night for a party and story-sharing. Almost everyone went to the Obama rally at the local high school in the morning.
We couldn’t get in at first. There were 2500 attendees, and they finally allowed the last 300 people into an adjacent gym where we could only hear, not see him give his speech. He was very inspiring, and his hope for America message is so fresh that it feels actually possible. Not sure how much substance was there, but it was moving, nonetheless. After, he made a pit-stop into our little gym, and my eleven-year-old daughter and I were among the few to shake his hand. I’ll try to figure out how to post the pix from my phone.
We tried to go hear Huckabee, but went on a private NBC studio tour which my b-i-l had arranged and saw Dan Rather, Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, and the guy from Morning Joe. We went to various headquarters and in collecting button, bumper stickers, and tee shirts, were able to assess the differing levels of excitement. Obama’s was at the top of the buzz meter, and Edwards and Hillary’s were subdued.
On every corner, there are groups of people with signs and tee shirts trying to out-shout eachother, hollering the name of whichever candidate they’re for. Do they actually think that someone will walk by and think, “Hmm, yes, now that you’ve yelled “KUCINICH!”‘ in my face, I’ll definitely vote for him.”? The whole town is abuzz with excitement and it’s thrilling to experience that process, though some locals I spoke to were astonished that we’d drive all the way from NY to be a part of it. I guess it’s “been there done that” for them!
When we got back home, my fourteen-year-old son actually watched CNN, I think for the first time. That’s what the experience of being in New Hampshire did – it really sparked his interest in what is happening in our country. Go if you can!
