A Weekend with Bill and Sarah

Growing up in Pinedale, Wyoming is a unique experience in many ways. I knew most of the people in my high school graduating class since kindergarten; there was nothing remotely resembling a city for 100 miles; and some of the most beautiful sites in the world were only minutes away. I love my hometown more than I probably should and I'm incredibly grateful for the experiences I had growing up there. One of the least likely things you would expect to find in a little town somewhere lost from most of the world is contact with the most powerful people in the world. But Pinedale never had a shortage of important people nearby who somehow found out about the beauty of the Wyoming wilderness.
One of the first things I can remember was walking into the living room when my mom had left the TV on in the middle of the day and seeing President Ronald Reagan addressing a press conference. I have no idea what he was talking about, I don't even know what time of year it was... I couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old, our family was still living in the Bargerville area between Pinedale and Boulder, Wyoming. I can remember looking at him, though, and thinking that he was a good man. I liked him instinctively. That was my first experience with politics. Later, I remember President George H.W. Bush coming to spend some time just outside of Pinedale. My brother, Cy, would talk about the helicopters and the secret service agents and how cool they were. The President of the United States was just outside of our hometown - Pinedale wasn't the middle of nowhere, the President vacationed there!
I was in the third grade when the next presidential elections were held. At that time Ross Perot was my hero. I remember having what I thought were mature conversations about the issues of the day with my friends at school. We would discuss the race between President Bush, Governor Bill Clinton, and H. Ross Perot as though we understood what was going on. I can still remember claiming that Ross Perot would have never left the race if his family's life hadn't been threatened, and I was certain he would have been president had he stayed in the race. In fifth grade I can remember discussing President Clinton and how terrible I thought his policies were - I had no idea what his policies were, but in Wyoming, they were terrible. Well, everywhere in Wyoming except Jackson Hole.
Jackson Hole, the closest thing to civilization around Pinedale, is 77 miles northwest of Pinedale. It's not exactly close, but in Wyoming terms it definitely was close. And President Clinton loved Jackson Hole. We would here about his vacations there on a regular basis. Strangely, coming from my little town in Wyoming, I was somewhere where the important people of the world would come. And while President George W. Bush had stronger ties to Texas than to Wyoming, he picked Dick Cheney as his running mate. There was even a chance that Dick Cheney might be the speaker at my high school graduation.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing all of this about Pinedale and the Presidents, I think it's to partially explain why I enjoy politics so much, and partially to explain how excited I am to be in Virginia right now. I didn't choose where to go to law school with politics even remotely in my mind, and yet here I am in a state that's being touted as one of the most important battlegrounds on November 4. Our governor, Tim Kaine, was on the shortlist to be Senator Obama's running mate and the congressman in the congressional district where I live, Eric Cantor, was a name that was being whispered as a possible running mate for Senator McCain. I feel like I'm in the middle of something important here.
With Virginia having its current status as a battleground state, important people have been showing up, trying to get our votes. The first thing I take from this is the beauty of our electoral system. It may have many flaws, but the votes of individuals do matter and the most important people in the world have to go through the average people of the world to get there, that's democracy. The other thing I gain from this is an opportunity to listen to some of those people. Presidents may have vacationed near Pinedale, but here in Richmond the important people aren't coming for vacation, but for me and people like me. Madeline Albright spoke at the University of Richmond a few weeks ago, and I was sad to miss the opportunity to hear her. And Barack Obama was campaigning about an hour away in Newport News last weekend, again I missed out on the opportunity.
But this weekend was different, I'm on fall break and the important people were coming to Richmond. Last night a friend and I lined up blocks away from the student commons of Virginia Commonwealth University to listen to President Bill Clinton speak on the behalf of the Obama campaign. I was surprised and impressed that the event began with an opening prayer followed by the national anthem. The introducing speakers included several students and spoke highly of their candidate, barely referring to Senator McCain. President Clinton gave a good speech, highlighting the differences between the candidates, but focusing on Barack Obama, barely referring to Senator McCain other than to say that Obama's plans were better. But that's not what impressed me about the event. Rather, I was impressed by the raw charisma of the man. He spoke with total confidence and one could easily see how he had inspired others to vote for him. Then, when all was said and done, he didn't leave immediately but first went and hugged the student who had introduced him, then he went down into a crowd of supporters and shook their hands. He stayed for quite a while, just shaking peoples hands.
Today I was able to go with some other friends to a Sarah Palin rally at the Richmond International Speedway racetrack. And while I am biased, today's rally didn't have the same feeling as last night's. There were many more people there to see Sarah Palin than had been at the Clinton rally last night. This was partially because the raceway could hold a lot more people, not to disparage her popularity with many people. The traffic going to the event was terrible and we missed the beginning, so I can't comment on how it opened, but we arrived just as Governor Palin took the stage. She first introduced Hank Williams, Jr. as a special guest and as singer of the national anthem. He proceeded to sing one of the worst renditions of the national anthem I've ever heard, but that's neither here nor there. He then sang a song against the liberal media and praising McCain, which was better sung but also irrelevent. The people had come to listen to Governor Palin. Unfortunately, it was hard to see her and the sound system would cut in and out. She spoke highly of John McCain and his policies and was much more restrained in her rhetoric against Barack Obama than in many of the rallies that have been shown on tv in the past few weeks. Perhaps it was because the crowd was too big, perhaps it was because she didn't have the same aura as a former US President must have, I don't know why, but the claps seemed much weaker and the crowd far less inspired.
The most interesting part of the Palin rally, to me, was when she quoted former Pennsylvania governor, Bob Casey, Sr. Governor Casey's son is an Obama supporter and U.S. Senator, and the Casey's are a democratic family. While much has been said about Governor Casey's position as a pro-life Catholic within the democratic party, and the possibility that he was denied a speaking spot at a democratic convention because of this, the Caseys have not been Republican backers. Governor Palin quoted Governor Casey talking about how you can judge a society by how it treats its weakest members. She used this to argue that we need to treat special needs children with special care. It was the strong point of her speech, but it didn't make sense to me. She made no accusation that Barack Obama wouldn't care for special needs children, or at least I didn't hear her say anything about that. She just said that it's important how we treat the weakest in our society. I agree with her wholeheartedly on that point, which is nice because generally speaking I don't agree with her on anything. She's right about loving everybody and taking care of the weak, but politically she said nothing about herself, unless you just assume that Barack Obama and Joe Biden don't care about the weakest among us or love others.
Speaking of that point, I'm just finishing Joe Biden's book "Promises to Keep" and I have to say, I'm impressed with the man. At the vice-presidential debate I think the strongest moment was when Senator Biden shared that he knows what it's like to raise a family as a single father because his first wife and daughter passed away in a terrible accident. I think the strongest moment in the last presidential debate for Senator Obama was when he was talking about healthcare and talked about how nobody else should have to watch their mother suffer through cancer and instead of resting and seeking treatment, have to fight insurance companies so she could pay for treatment. Who are the people running for the highest offices in our country? It's a question that has been asked a lot lately - rather than just saying that you don't know - take the time and get to know them. Everybody but Sarah Palin has written at least one memoir... Whatever side of the political aisle your on - look into the men. Sarah Palin was right today, as was the man she quoted, Governor Casey, but before you assume that she and John McCain are the only ones who do care for the least among us, find out where the other people stand. I cried as I read about Joe Biden's fight to pass the violence against women act - you may not agree with the man, but he cares deeply. Anyhow, now I'm just wandering through thoughts - I'll let you go. Here's my picture for the week, you know, so you don't forget what I look like! This one is glasses free, as per Melly's request.