This weekend, for the first time I can remember,
Maine mattered in national politics. We got a couple of days of that attention that
New Hampshire and
Iowa get for months on end, and it was fun. I’m just a simple country boy, to whom a minivan with no space left in it is a big crowd, and “security” means a donut-hunter with spare tires is on hand to watch out for shotguns we may have forgotten to leave in the truck.
A friend I ended up with didn't plan for that either, and went ahead with his weekend coat, the one with the flask of Yukon Jack in the pocket. It has been a long, snowy winter, so packing some Down-east anti-freeze is S.O.P.
Long story short, when we got to the new Rec Center at UMO to see Sen. Clinton, the Secret Service folks and their metal-detector doorways found that right away. I was only thankful that I had remembered to leave my carry gun at home, or we would have been all over the news! He offered to leave it at the desk, or whatever, but they had other ideas.
“Can you take a drink of it, Sir?” they queried. “That way we know it’s not dangerous.”
You’re kidding. “Aw, do I have to? Glug. Want some?”
Surprisingly, once he had demonstrated that his flask contained nothing dangerous, he was allowed to go in with it, and we even got great seats with some people we know. My friend Debbie was next over, then that raving Kossack Eddie-from-Maine, who diaried the day on DailyKos, with good pictures, then Rita Moran, Maine’s newest Superdelegate. She told us that the campaigns haven’t found her yet, and that she would be attending both events to help her decide how to vote. We were in the third row, within ten feet of the lectern. In front of us were Virginia Manual, Libby Mitchell, the University’s President Kennedy and Dean Dana, among other notables. Except for Debbie and Rita, who are classier than we are, we shared the Jack while we waited.
Eventually, Governor B and Emily Cain, our youngest state legislator, introduced Hillary Clinton, and she spoke very well for about an hour. Green Jobs, saving education, saving Social Security, saving Health Care, saving the environment, been dedicated to service for many years, caucus for me, etc. Seemed like about a thousand people were there.
Out the door (easier than getting in), South to Bangor, find the city’s auditorium, and WOW IS THAT THE LINE?!?! Okay, find parking, leave the (now empty) flask in the car, wait in line forever, get inside to wait even longer on the pullout bleachers, wishing there were more Jack. The difference between the crowds was like night and day, and that’s not a color joke. The Hillary crowd was well-behaved, well-dressed, clapped at the right times, and occasionally shouted something supportive. The Barack crowd was motley in the best way, chatty, laughing, stomping, shouting, and forming new friendship up and down the rows. There were also about six thousand of them, and I later learned that Barack also spoke to the two thousand who were turned away. He had more than twice the media attention, eight times the attendance, and applause you could hear all the way to Fort Kent.
Sean Faircloth, Glenn Cummings, Jeremy Fischer, a Senator and two Representatives from Bangor, Portland, and Presque Isle, introduced Barack Obama. Faircloth is the Senate’s majority Whip, Cummings is Speaker of the House, and Fischer chairs Appropriations. Obama spoke very well for about an hour. Green Jobs, saving education, saving Social Security, saving Health Care, saving the environment, been dedicated to service for many years, caucus for me, etc. Seemed like about a thousand people were there.
I found two differences between the candidates significant, though, and one difference between their detractors. First, there was a difference in style. Obama went for passion, sympathy, and hope. Clinton went for detail and respect. The second difference was with the attendees. Who’s fired up for Clinton? I saw older people who appeared to be middle class, along with many students, who had traveled a few hundred yards to hear her. Who’s fired up for Obama? I saw older people who looked like farmers, truckers, waiters, and unemployed, and many, many young people who looked like they came from all walks of life, and who actually traveled on a ten-degree morning with a storm coming in order to hear him. More people with evident disabilities, more people who were plainly living one alternative lifestyle or another, more people from among Maine’s very small non-white population. I grew up here, and believe me, seeing hundreds of black and beige people in the same place NEVER HAPPENS. Except for this weekend.
More about the crowd. I saw a sign in a car window, “FAMA FOR OBAMA (farmer for Obamer)” When Obama mentioned his “cousin” Dick Cheney,” there was a fun moment. He waited for the laughter to die down a bit, and said, “You know, when people do these genealogy studies, you kind of hope you’re related to somebody cool.”
From right behind me, somebody yelled out, “HE IS!”
I have plenty of conservative friends. Whoever said that the only candidate who can unite the Republican party at this point is Hillary Clinton was right. There’s a visceral disgust for her there, and I believe they will turn out in droves for the opportunity to vote against her. Barack Obama inspires nothing like this level of hatred. If the hordes of people who feel that they have hope because of him aren’t enough to convince me, that difference is.
Note: I wrote the above on Sunday morning. Then I caucused for Obama, when my town, and Maine as a whole, went for him sixty-forty, and will happily represent him as a delegate to the state convention. For the first time that I’ve seen, there was stiff competition to be delegates to the state convention; talk about being engaged! As I upload this, I'm looking at the papers, reporting that record numbers of Democrats caucused, giving Obama 60% of the vote.
Andy ><> ><>
