Why I'm not worried - Obama rocked the Dean Dome on Monday
By thisniss - April 30, 2008, 5:00AM
Cafe Talk | Talking Points Memo | Why I'm not worried - Obama rocked the Dean Dome on Monday
I just read Josh's post on the growing "crisis of confidence" amongst Obama supporters, and I've seen a couple of responses here, too. So I thought, in the spirit of this post, that I would offer my own thoughts on why I'm not feeling discouraged about the state of the campaign at this moment. I know that this exercise is essentially meaningless, but I still wanted to put this out there in an attempt to counter the overwhelmingly negative narrative that has dominated the traditional media for the last couple of days.
On Monday night, I attended an Obama early voting rally in Chapel Hill, NC. The rally was announced on Thursday, and not widely publicized. It was booked for the Dean Dome - the 21,000+ seat arena where the UNC Tar Heels basketball team plays their home games. I knew that "a lot" of tickets had been distributed over the course of the four days leading up to the event, but I didn't really expect more than "a few thousand" people to show up.
It was a nasty day - cold and thunderstorming, after a week of beautiful weather. It was the first day of final exams for UNC students. The tickets for the event announced doors opened at 7pm, with the speech to begin at 9:30 - and for an out-of-town crowd, them's pretty late hours in these parts. So I arrived at the Dean Dome a bit before 7 expecting a crowd but not a throng.
The lines moved quickly, and I met up with different folks I knew, handed off an extra ticket, wandered around to different early voter info stations, got some water, etc. I wasn't in a huge hurry to find a seat because I figured, hey, it's seven. There are thousands of seats, right? I've got some time.
So, of course, ten minutes later I was damned grateful to find a seat. Because, yes. On a crappy, cold, late, dark, Monday night, over 18,000 people came to that rally that I thought might draw half that, at most. They showed up, some of them willing to wait all day in the rain just so they could be first in line. They showed up, coming straight from work with their dinners and their kids in tow. They showed up with homework, books and notes. They showed up in their Obama gear, in their Sunday best, and in their work clothes. They showed up, knowing that Obama didn't really "need" them there. I mean, he's going to win North Carolina, right? But while the band played and the hours passed, they ate and talked and worked and studied for finals and played and danced and waited together, all 18,000+, because they'd all showed up to hear the next President of the United States.
He was introduced by a tantalizing progression of friends and supporters - too many, and yet all worth hearing in their own right. Since I have the legislative equivalent of a long-time celebrity crush on my Congressman, David Price, I'm pretty much always excited to see him. I also really like Mel Watt, and he was a great crowd energizer. There were also a couple of local volunteers and organizers who spoke, which was great. Oh, and the speech by Tar Heel alum and all-around amazing guy, the Big Smooth, Sam Perkins, was a real treat for all the basketball fans in the room. It was awesome to see him standing there in front of his retired jersey and the NCAA penant that he won on the team with Jordan, talking about his own recent work as a businessman and humanitarian and how that lead him to his support for Obama.
And then, after all of the build up, the man himself. And every word he said resonated with the crowd. 18,000 people, not just "fired up and ready to go," but really recognizing the need to move beyond the current state of slash-and-burn politics. Really and truly hopeful about the possibility of transcending the "us versus them" divisions that have made Republican, Independent, Democrat more important than American for far too long. Ready to turn a corner, not just discursively, but practically. The crowd laughed when Obama discussed McCain's gas tax proposal, because those 18,000 got the difference between a convenient sounding political promise and the hard truth of a lifestyle change.
So, no. I'm not worried about the campaign. I'm not worried about North Carolina polls. I'm not worried about Superdelegate endorsements. I'm not even worried about the farce that passes for media coverage in our country. And I'm sure as hell not worried about losing an election. Because what Monday night reminded me was that this is about a lot more than an election. It's about a movement. It's about taking back our country. And it's about deciding who we want to be. Obviously, I want to win the election. But that's only one piece of the puzzle. As Obama says at every stump - and as anyone who has ever tried to change anything knows - it happens from the bottom up.
If you're feeling exhausted and discouraged, take a break. Look at how far we've come. Think about the fact that 18,000 people showed up in North Carolina on Monday night. They came out, and they heard what Obama had to say, and they got it. They left with the message and the mission.
Right now, the last desperate attempts to quell this movement are being mobilized. The full force of an old style of politics is being brought down upon us. We don't have to play into it. Don't waste time trying to fight stupid fights. Don't worry about who said what about whom. Don't give up on our game to play a game we all hate. Not this time.
After all, we started this thing with no one's fiat but our own. The support, approval, blessing, and belief for the Obama campaign comes from those who support, approve, bless and believe in the Obama campaign. I know this may seem obvious, but that's what hope is, y'all. That's what a movement is. We're it. It's us. Just keep moving. Forget about the distractions. Yes. We. Can.