Tuesday night

So where do I start?

I wanted to start with the continuing story of the great transportation disaster (three bus rides from hell in three and a half days), but even that tends to fade into the background against the experience of being on the convention floor last night.

Michelle Obama looked like she was born to do what she did last night.  She was strong and focused, clear and personal, compelling, compassionate and she made sense.  She spoke about character, which always makes me sit up and take notice:  I want, perhaps more than anything, a president with character.  She talked about her fears of what the Presidential experience would do to her children.  "Being president doesn't change who you are; it reveals who you are."  She is happy about what was revealed.  So am I.

There were - oh, I don't know, I didn't count - thirty or so speeches last night.  It was a mixed bag, and it took six hours.  I saw them all, and I think it's a new ball game.  The months of gloomy analysis about the lack of enthusiasm for the ticket and the re-election effort are over.  There was nothing but enthusiasm and - OK, I'll say it - hope, in the house last night.

So far, I'd give the "Barack Obama 2004 Convention Speech Award" to Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, but many of the pundits seem to be giving it to Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts.  I was disappointed that he didn't spend much time on Romneycare.  I liked Ted Strickland, former Governor of Ohio; the word on him seems to be that he was trying to ignite a class war.  I believe that we have been engaged in class warfare for half a century, at least, and that the rich have pretty much won.  And the notion that we should avoid anything that resembles fighting back is of great use to those who hold the advantage.

I'm in the breakfast room of the hotel right now, dividing my time between writing and joining in the conversation.  For a while the conversation focused on Michelle's dress, nails and work-out musculature.  I got a lot of writing done (I didn't remember what color her dress was, and when shown a picture, I still don't know...).  But we moved to another subject that the opposition is trying to convince us is impolite to mention:  race.  A black woman from the City spoke about her daughter, in college, who is trying to develop her own political identity. She can't get by the 'dog-whistle' issues - the phrases and issues which signal to those in the know how the speaker feels about racial issues.  "Do they think we're stupid?" her daughter asked.  "Maybe in grandma's day, when they didn't have the educational opportunities, but now... it's horrible."

The mayor of Hornell is sitting next to me, and we're talking (along with a former Town Supervisor from LI and the former Sheriff of Fulton County) about town/city merger vs. annexation of part of the town; Hizonner has sent Oneonta some information about this process, since Hornell is the only city in the state, according to him, which has successfully annexed contiguous land.  Everybody won.

It's rained here every day (I just missed getting wet yesterday), and the forecast is the same.  President Obama's speech venue has been changed, from the very big open sports stadium it was originally scheduled for, to the arena that the rest of the Convention has been held in.  Lots of folks won't be able to attend; there are 'watch parties' scheduled all over town.

On the way - the long way - to find the bus last night, I happened to be standing at an intersection when what I assume was Michelle Obama's convoy sped by.  Six or eight motorcycle policemen, with lights and sirens; then three or four Sheriffs' cars, four or five black SUVs, then three more police cars.  The were all going very fast.  At the intersection, there were about a dozen heavily-armed soldiers who were, as everyone in uniform as been, pleasant and vigilant.  Later, I found out that all traffic in town stopped until the convoy got out of town.

I did go to the Rural Council yesterday.  It was mostly about agriculture, and I took a lot of notes.  The Farm Bill - which includes the SNAP (Food Stamps) program, has been held up, unsurprisingly, in the House.  Fourteen cents of every SNAP dollar goes to American farmers.  Go figure.

Hey - I got my shoes shined!  Now they're (supposedly) very water resistant, and it's going to rain hard when I need to be walking outside.  See you later.