Pursuant to my primary pondering, I went today to the Barack Obama rally in Los Angeles. I have to say, it was pretty impressive. He was a charismatic speaker, but in an unusual way. He speaks surprisingly slow, with a deep but precise tone. It takes a moment to get used to the slow pace, and the pauses, but by the end of the speech it does a great job of convincing you that he is both thoughtful and passionate. Those are unusual qualities to hear in a politician's speech.
Also, he is a very good looking man. And he is, I believe, the first presidential candidate ever not to have politician's hair.
But the most impressive thing about the rally for me was the crowd. It was a big crowd, first of all; the papers are saying "in the thousands." That's pretty neat considering the primary is over a year away. But more importantly, it was one of the most diverse political events I have ever been too. Truly multi-racial, a wide range of ages, lots of different causes, and a ton of enthusiasm and energy. And as Kelsey pointed out, you don't get the feeling that it was stage-managed by his staff. There wasn't even a lot of publicity for the event, I just happened to notice on his web site that LA was the next stop on his tour. I've been to a lot of political rallies over the years, and there was a new energy at this one.
So I guess I can officially say...Go Obama!
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Update: The SF Chronicle just posted an article about the rally. It's a nice positive article, but it just goes to show what most reporting is like:
1) It claims 7,000 people were there. That's not even close to true--the local news is saying 3k, which sounds about right.
2) Hordes of uniformed school children? I must have somehow missed these hordes.
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