Amy & I took the kids and her mom to the Obama rally in downtown Indy today. Big crowd. The event started a little late, but the weather was nice and the kids did reasonably well. Four Square No. 266 has some good pictures and the text of the speech. I particularly liked this part:
At a defining moment like this, we don’t have the luxury of relying on the same political games and the same political tactics that are used every election to divide us from one another and make us afraid of one another. With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by class or region; by who we are or what policies we support.
There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation – we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from. There are patriots who supported this war in Iraq and patriots who opposed it; patriots who believe in Democratic policies and those who believe in Republican policies. The men and women from Indiana and all across America who serve on our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.
It was good. I watched part of it on WISH TV’s web streaming. Nice day to be out at the Mall.
Sad for me, but just a few years ago I worked about two blocks from there. I could have just strolled over, had the job not dried up and blown away.
Had the job not dried up and blown away, there’s a good chance Obama would not have been there today. Kind of a trick bag.
The speech seemed like the standard stump speech, but well delivered and seemed like a little piece of history. Harper is probably too young to remember it, but at age 5, maybe Cole will recall seeing it.
No. The job dried up and blew away in the spirit of Enron. Same type of managerial dedication to the company’s future (or lack thereof).
Hopefully, two or three of the officers are still being penalized in some fashion. Sadly, one escaped to “live again” in the second Peterson adminstration.
Nice day to be at the zoo. Lots of little kids in costumes.
Was downtown for other business at the statehouse, did you notice how many FFA kids there were for the convention? We grabbed lunch and then scooted out of town prior to your event being completed. Sunny and beautiful fall afternoon, had to be nice. Can’t say I like the guy, I don’t, but I was sure proud of our state mattering this time around.
Thanks for posting. Here in South Bend we wondered how it went. Glad so many folks came out for him.
The place was crawling with Future Farmers of America — they’re having their national convention in Indy, I guess.
It is now just the FFA, they dropped the Future Farmers of America.
From their site: Changed in 1988 from Future Farmers of America to reflect the expanding career field of Agricultural Education.
The national convention is a big deal and I hope that Indy can keep it.
Just saw on “Countdown” that the Big Ten poll has Obama up in Indiana by 10.
Never thought I’d say this-but let’s make Indiana blue!!!
Wish I could have made it down I-65 to Indy today. Although I might try to make it to Grant Park for his election night party. Just need to see if I can get out of a meeting that night; so that might be a dream.
BTW did you see all the Republicans that are supporting Obama: Scott McClellan, the entire Goldwater family (of Arizona), and former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson.
Carlson was the governor when we lived in Minnesota. The way he got elected is that the popular incumbent democratic governor was found in a hot tub with a bunch of high school girls a month before the election; if I recall the story correctly his bathing suit was elsewhere. OOOOOPS!
I like Arne; except that he had an extreme dislike for IU-and especially Knight (don’t blame him for that one!) He threw a pre-game rally before the IU/Gopher game at the governor’s mansion. Rebecca and I crashed the party in IU garb. He was really nice to us; wished us a good game-chatted with us for quite a while and introduced us to alot of different people in the room. He even let us eat some food!
All-in-all Arne did a great job reaching across the aisle. I’m not a bit surprised he is breaking party rank. I wish he was up to be our governor. The one thing I felt sorry for him about was that his ex-wife had a radio talk show and would often call him by the name she had used for his “executive branch!”
Hey Doug! I was there today too.. my 4th time to hear him live. My friends and I were about 20 feet from the stage.. to the left behind. We were hoping for the staging area behind him, but they seemed to be picking people with Union/ Colts/ Indiana Univ sweatshirts.. for the visuals.
I doubt the 10%.. but 2% within the margin.. I believe. But if Indiana goes for Obama.. then it will be a landslide, maybe even transformational election.
The wide range in polling may be because pollsters don’t have a handle on turnout,and are trying to adjust historic figures for a new phenomenum.In FL,for example, Blacks are pre-voting in unprecedented numbers.The higher the turnout,the better Obama will do. Blacks and 18-30s are 2 of Obama’s key constituencies and both have a history of fickle voting.Republican voters ,whoever the candidate, get to the polls.
The one exception was when I voted in Chicago. Everyone voted,and voted Democratic,otherwise don’t bother calling your alderman if you have a neighborhood problem.Your alderman always seemed to know..
Don’t forget us middle class, middle age white guys. There were plenty of us there too. He might even renew our faith.
IT nerds over 40!
Obama will be in Highland tomorrow. Of course it will be at 7:30 pm; which means convincing the kids they really don’t need to tricl-or-treat much tomorrow night;-)
Maybe I can deflect the kids by calling the day the 491st Anniversary of the Reformation-and not Halloween!