The man himself came to Seattle today to headline a rally sponsored by the
36th District Democrats in our Ballard neighborhood and Wowie Zowie what a thrill! Our future President in an elementary school cafeteria ... you gotta love it!
I was genuinely moved to hear him speak, to have the chance to personally acknowledge how much he is appreciated (three wildly cheering standing ovations) and to actually shake his hand. One of these days they're going to have to invent a way for people to stop themselves from blurting out the world's dorkiest things when they meet someone they admire, but he didn't seem too phased that some lady just had to share the earthshattering news that she was born in Wausau (...Wisconsin ... Fellow Cheesehead, you know).
But wait, there's more! Join me on the flip for some encouraging news!
Our future President gave a brief but very stirring endorsement for Washington's junior Senator,
Maria Cantwell, who has been targeted by Rove & Co. for special attention in 2006 (boo ... hiss). Although I have been impressed with Senator Cantwell's efforts to prevent the insane push to drill in Alaska, it was encouraging to hear him speak with great sincerity about her deep commitment to progressive energy/environmental issues and how hard she works behind the scenes.
The real unexpected thrill came, however, when they introduced Darcy Burner, candidate for Congress from Washington's 8th District - a seat currently head by one term incumbent Dave Reichert (R). Now although Seattle is a pretty blue city (I thank the heavens every day that I have the world's best Congressman, Jim McDermott), the area just across the lake is much, much more conservative and traditionally goes Repub.
The good news is that I think Ms. Burner is going to live up to her introduction as "Dave Reichert's worst nightmare." What an impressive young lady! She speaks like a real human, she has a terrific personal story (military family, scholarship to Harvard, one of her brothers served in Afghanistan, a Microsoft alum, etc.) and she expresses herself with conviction and great poise. She has the air of a winner and I was immediately enthusiastic about volunteering for a candidate who stands to make a huge difference on our home turf as well as in DC.
Please check out her website www.darcyburner.com. She's someone to keep your eye on.
On a personal note, I'm a total sucker for this democracy thing. I'm one of those people who cry when they vote. I pull into the parking lot today and see cars with the same bumper stickers I have on my car and my eyes mist up. One of America's great heroes spends a few minutes shaking people's hands in a school cafeteria and I'm overcome by emotion. I see people who bring their young children to political rally on a beautiful spring afternoon in Seattle and I get all woozy with hope that we can actually do something together and leave them a better world.
What do you say? Are you in?