On Sunday September 5th we saw Gov. Dean at a rally for local candidates here in Ohio. Renee had gotten to see him in person at DemocracyFest but I never had before.
We had attended the Kerry rally in Newark, OH the previous Thursday. It was nice to hear The Nominee speak in person. It was a good speech. He made all the right points. I think there is hope for him. But, we still left less than completely inspired. We have 3 K/E bumper stickers that we still haven't been able to put on our cars. The car wore our "Anti-Bush/Pro-America" bumper sticker for the ride to Newark. I had printed a sign that I held up during the rally that read "Hit 'em Hard!". This was the closest I could come to "Don't Blow It!" that wouldn't get me escorted out of the rally. We had VIP tickets that were supposed to get us up close. But, they didn't end up making and difference. We ended up standing in deep roving right field - in the rose bushes, almost behind a tree. We'd dressed for the cooler weather we had before the rally and not the sun we ended up standing in. By Sunday we were probably not completely over the heat exhaustion. We weren't sure we were going to make the DFA rally... swell.
Also, we weren't able to line up a baby sitter. So, our only option was to go and bring the kids with us. Now, we've led a pretty Dean centered life for the last year or so and the kids are sick and tired of politics by now - and not afraid to say so. But, we explained to them as nicely as possible that we to a lot for them. They have a LOT of fun. And, this was something that Mommy and Daddy wanted to do and they were not going to ruin it for us... or else.
We made sure we got there plenty early - seeing how even our VIP tickets didn't get us up front for Kerry. Our local DFA people were still setting up when we got there. The rally had been moved inside to escape the heat. But the hall warmed up pretty fast once people started filling the room. The kids helped out by passing our flags and home-made sign/fans to people as they came in. We met a lot of blog friends in person. DearPru was there. Lynn and Linda in Cincinnati were there as were Paula and a number of Crushies from parts unknown. The speakers were great - full of energy. Mary Jo Kilroy, Jeff Seemann, our own Katherine Thomsen... Although the last few before Howard were really rushed. Katie barely had a minute to address the crowd. But, I guess Howard had another event he had to get to afterward. Tight scheduling...
Of course the crowd went crazy as Howard took the stage. We were right up front so I got some great shots that we will post. He gave a great speech and thanked all the local candidates. He really is great to see in person. There's just something about him that you can't get thru political coaching - a certain "genuine-ness". *This* is what was lacking from Kerry when we saw him. After he spoke he made a quick exit back up the stairs and the crowd filed out behind him. When we got up to the parking lot we saw a limo leaving. We knew he had another engagement. We thought we had missed him. But, we both thought it was very "un-Howardly" of him to just take off like that...
Renee was also going to go to the next event at Dennison University. I would take the kids home and she would stay to help clean up and get a ride with someone. So, I went back downstairs to find an electronic game that my son had brought to entertain himself with if he got bored. Then we were going to head home. I was very pleasantly surprised when I got back downstairs to find out that Gov. Dean was in the back of the room shaking hands and taking pictures with supporters. THIS was more like the Howard I knew. I didn't know how long he would be there. I didn't want to take a chance of missing him. But, I had to alert Renee and get her back downstairs! I tried calling her on her cell phone from my cell phone. (Don't you just love technology!) But, she apparently couldn't hear it ringing in her purse! (Don't you just hate technology!) I took the chance and ran back upstairs to get her. We rushed back downstairs and he was still there! He was standing with Katie and some other supporters talking.
We moved closer and waited our turn. I wanted to say something wonderfully clever, but nothing came to mind. (Isn't it always like that?) I introduced myself and commented that Renee had met him at DemFest and said how glad I was to finally have the pleasure. I always feel like he knows me (from People-Powered Graphics) and still *doesn't* know me - like Mr. Burns always has to be reminded of who Homer Simpson is... Renee commented that he called me on my birthday and he smiled a BIG smile and wondered out loud how that had gotten "all over the Blog". (Did he really expect that it *wouldn't* get all over the Blog?) I answered that it is a community... of course we share these things! We introduced the kids and Paula took several pictures of all of us with Gov. Dean. I commented that he was *so* much more 3 dimensional than the version we had at home... (gratuitous Flat Howard reference) I didn't see his smile from that until we loaded the pictures onto the computer at home.
Renee had suggested making a "Flat Demetrius" to attend in my place at one point when we thought I would just have to stay home with the kids. I'm glad we decided to go as a family. It was a great moment... While you have his attention you are really torn. You want to keep the Gov focused on you - just a little while longer. You want to say that thing that will make him laugh and throw his head back the way he does. You want him to remember your name from that point on. But, you know there are other people waiting for a piece of him and you know they are thinking the same thing as you. We watched him go back into the thinning crowd and we took pictures for a couple of people who had been waiting to meet him.
The weird irony is that we never did find my son's electronic game. I think an "angel" must have taken it so that I would find my way back downstairs to look for it and find Gov. Dean instead...
Posted by Demetrius at September 10, 2004 11:52 PM