Politician? Rock Star! November 3, 2006 – Posted in: Aberrant Normalcy

Is this the face of your new President? Yesterday I went over to a Democratic rally held right across from the Hoboken PATH station to check out the rock star, er, I mean, Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. The rally was ostensibly for Bob Menendez, but we all knew who we were there to see. I know I was there to see if Obama really has the right stuff.

Last night was seasonably brisk, and due to the warm weather we’ve been having lately, I was severely under-dressed. A hard wind whipped off the nearby Hudson River and I had a slight cold, so when they told me Obama wasn’t scheduled to go on for another hour or so, I almost bailed. But, it’s not often you get to see a possible President up close like this. I envied people who say they met Bill Clinton before he ran in 1992. So I braved the cold and stayed.

The speakers progressed from local to state to federal government, and so did their eloquence. We heard frightfully loud recordings of Sinatra, then Springsteen, then James Brown’s “Living in America.” (A girl I was with loathed the inescapable association of Hoboken with Sinatra. From what I’ve heard, Sinatra hated this town.) By the time Jon Corzine reached the stage the energy exploded like a night club or concert. “Are you ready to rock?!” (Or something like that.) Woooo! The crowd responded. I could almost see the lighters being held up. (No pot though. There were armed guards all around the perimeter.) I was expecting a stereotypical “liberal” turnout (ex-hippies and awkward anti-socialites), but much to my surprise, the crowd was remarkably diverse. From grungy college kids to $1000 suits. From Latinos to African-Americans to Asians to children That’s what’s cool about Obama: because he’s black — a symbol of the melting pot of this USA — everyone can rally behind him. He’s famous for saying, “We are not red states or blue states, we are the United States.”

Here’s a picture of my friend Dave being interviewed by the HDN network. I couldn’t hear the interview because there was a couple chatting loudly next to me, but Dave said to me afterward that he’d said he was “Here to see Obama, not Menendez, and so are most of the people. Obama’s like a rock star. But he shouldn’t run for President in ’08. He’s too wet behind the ears and will get whipped. If he’s smart, he’ll wait until 2012.” Or something like that. Dave was frustrated because, even though HDN was syndicated worldwide, he wasn’t a subscriber to its satellite broadcast “Dish Network” and therefore wouldn’t get to see his 15 (or more like 5) minutes. Maybe this photo will make up for that a bit (even though you can only see the back of his head).

Anyway, after a mediocre warm-up, a reciting of the pledge of allegiance, and a beautifully sung version of The National Anthem, the speakers got wise and decided to bring all the candidates on stage at once. (The crowd was getting cold and antsy by then.) Out came Corzine, DeGise, Menendez, and, finally, Obama! He was taller than the rest by an apple, and he didn’t wear a tie (unlike the others). His white shirt was opened a bit at the top. “Ladies, watch out!” Corzine said.

And we heard the spiel. He said the things you’d expect of a man running for office. He talked about his childhood a bit, a moment of inspiration for his book, “The Audacity of Hope.” But I liked his message. It’s one I oft repeat here. He said it’s easy to look at the world and say, “That’s just how it is. We can never change it.” Obama disagrees. He thinks we can make it better, and we can do that with a little willpower. It seemed that last night, that will existed in the crowd: a will to change the way this country is heading.

Do yourself a favor and (if you are in the US), please don’t forget to VOTE on Tuesday!