Hope Does Not Disappoint

It's primaries season and the candidates are in the state Pastor Paul affectionately calls Cow Hampshire in full force. Seames and Gak came down today to check out the campaigns and I tagged along with them, as is, of course, my civic duty as American citizen.We had quite the dream schedule planned: McCain, Obama, and Edwards. We would've liked to see Hillary, too. And Chuck Norris. And any Law & Order co-stars that might be campaigning with Fred Thomson. But alas, a day is only so long, there are so many other people in the state (who knew), and we could only manage McCain and Obama, both classy fellows we were happy to get glimpses of.

The McCain pictures actually turned out pretty awful because of the lighting in the middle school gym, but we were lucky to get such good seats. We were right by McCain's entrance and got to see lots of campaign staff and press people go back and forth throughout the event and had, of course, a perfect view of McCain himself. We also made it into lots of discarded footage. One reporter actually interrupted a conversation between Gak and Me, pointed her camera directly in our faces, then asked us to move our heads- she wanted a shot of the much cuter children behind us and did not care for our story.

If you look carefully, you will see that the man in gray to the far left is Harry Smith of the CBS Early Show. Other media notables in our vicinity were Bob Novak, NYTimes neoconservative columnist David Brooks, and lots of other people that Gak recognized and I didn't. Oh, and Wilford Brimley- though that recognition was a bit awkward as no one around could recall what he was in, and he had to supply a movie title himself. Then he got tired of those around us asking him questions and found a different place to sit. Nice 'stache though.

Oh, Obama, Obama, Obama. We stood in line for an hour just to wait for the doors to open. And when it finally did, there was no more room in the auditorium and we had to wait in the cafeteria and watch him on tiny little TVs. We stood for about three hours before we saw him on the monitor. And it was going to be a pretty disappointing stop until the very end, when he dropped by the cafe for a few minutes. It just so happened that miracle of miracles, Gak had brilliantly picked the right spot for us to stand. We were at the very front of the line when he came in and each got to talk to him and shake his hand. (He has a very firm grip) We were so close (as the pictures can attest) that Secret Service actually got panicky and asked Seames to put both her hands where they could see them.

Obama is now the third major candidate I've seen in person and shaking his hand, I finally get what the hoopla is all about. His speech was inspirational and all, but so is everyone else's. His personal presence, however, felt much more powerful than the others. And so we stood for three and a half hours just to touch him, but oh, it was well worth it. Plus, we got free fluffernutter sandwiches out of the deal. Hillary doesn't give you fluffernutter, that's for sure.