Be the change you wish the world to be ...

Election day, 2008 - a glorious day for America. John and I both voted for Barack Obama with Florida absentee ballots a couple of weeks ago, but we are still excited by this day, which feels electrified with a quiet charge. What a beautiful, sunny day, filled with hope for our country and our world.

This is the neighborhood Obama headquarters:

Meanwhile, though the little trees on our streets look to have moved to the "falling" stage, there is still much vibrant color around...

John McCain rally in St. Charles, MO

It is interesting, but also sometimes disturbing to listen to what the other side is saying.

The McCain rally in my neighborhood in St. Charles this morning looked like a county fair. A small county fair. I’m not good at estimating crowd size, but maybe 1500 is in the ballpark. Children, old people, everyone was well behaved and excited, but the crowd response was weak. Lackluster. The lines that generated energy were those that referred to Sarah Palin.

Several Missouri politicians spoke before Senator McCain, and I was confused by their message. The evil of slavery was equated with socialism. A lot of talk about the idea of “spreading the wealth around”, especially in terms of giving “your hard earned money to people who don’t work”. Do rich people who don’t work deserve it more? I heard a lot about the danger of raising taxes, but not a word about raising the minimum wage.

I stood at the very back of the crowd, but still had a good view of Senator McCain. He looked good. The first words out of his mouth were a commendation of his running mate, Sarah Palin, that drew loud applause. Then it was mostly a re-hash of the confusing money issues that the other Missouri politicians had been drumming on. He ended with a chant about “stand up and fight for America”, and one old woman who had been sitting in a wheelchair stood and thrust her fist in the air. I was behind her and wish that I could have photographed it, but the memory was gone on my camera.

I’ve already mailed my Florida absentee ballot.

Here is NY Times reporting on the rally in St. Charles.

Some photos from the rally ... The crane was used to hoist a giant flag:

A Sarah sighting in the crowd ...

Sharpshooters...

And lots of buttons ... mostly Palin!

Preparing the Prop

We got a notice on our door today that, indeed, John McCain would be holding a rally at the amphitheatre at 9 o’clock in the morning. We were assured that this event was not an endorsement by the neighborhood, that Barack Obama would have been hosted if he had asked. We were told to be on our best behavior.

Let me explain a bit about “New Town”. This is a planned community, but not a town in itself. Rather it is a developing neighborhood in the middle of cornfields, about 5 miles from what could be considered a “town” or populated area. I still haven’t decided what I think about New Town. I like the people I have met here. My next door neighbors are African American. The homes are all new and everything is well kept. The sidewalks are great, and everyone walks to the market, the gym, the mail room. Sometimes something feels contrived about it all, but I have to admit that it is comfortable and convenient for us. This is the closest place to where John works where we could find a furnished apartment to rent.

The idea that John McCain was holding a rally here sounded so very funny to me when I first heard it. Contrived. If the appearance is right, then the underlying reality will just have to fit that appearance. A photo op.

People have been busy all day today getting the amphitheater ready. It looks like there will be a stage, with tall bleachers behind it, and places for the cameras in front. Fences started going up this afternoon, but it is a small area, so it is not difficult to enclose.

I hear that they are going to begin bussing people in at 7am. We were told that we would need tickets to get in, but they were all out by tonight. They told us to come anyway.

Eric and I plan to check it out. Here are some photos of what things look like today. Lights ...

Cranes (for cameras?) ...
Cameras ....


Fences ...

All fenced in!

100,000 rally for Obama in St. Louis

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people gathered for an Obama rally in St. Louis today.

Holy smokes!

The little amphitheatre down the street where McCain will be on Monday will be an interesting photo-op, but so trivial compared to what happened in St. Louis today.