I was fifteen minutes late getting to the
Afternoon with Howard Dean at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199, but it was great. Dean's speech was pretty standard, and I doubt the content would surprise anyone here.
No, I'm not posting with any new news or ideas that will have any bearing with anything. I'm just posting a new diary because I got to go into the subway with Howard Dean afterward. And, well, that was all sorts of weird-crazy-exciting.
(Details follow.)
The Morning
I thought this shindig started at 2PM, but when I got online at 11:38 to check the address, I found out that the event started at 1PM. Damn! Well, I thought, too bad. I'm not going.
But then my fiancé starts in with "oh, do you love George W. Bush now? Do you hate democracy? When did you become Republican?" This is the same line that I gave her when I was convincing her to give more money to the Democrats for the 2004 election. I never realized how effective it was.
So, I got ready as quickly as possible, got on the subway, and got to the address there by 1:15. I looked downstairs in the lobby. There was no one there. I wondered if I got the day right. Earlier, I was wrong about time. I figured that this meeting (FULL according to the website) would have a lot of people outside or something. But, no, nothing. Ah well. Cut my loses. Time to go.
As I'm walking away from the entrance, I hear someone call out behind me. "Howard Dean?" I turn around to see a man at the door. "Are you here for Howard Dean?"
"Yeah."
"C'mon in. He's up the stairs on your right. One flight."
New Yorkers are cool.
The Speech
Dean was already ten minutes into his speech when I got there. The speech was good; it was similar to what you might have heard before either in person, in interviews, or on television. Main points that I can recollect:
- America needs to lead by example.
- Democrats need to change how we talk about the issues (didn't say "framing," but you know what he meant).
- Can't trust Republicans with your money: They borrow and spend.
- We need to invest in our children; Republicans don't get that.
- We need to run in every state to win. Dean's cousin won in Utah.
- Can't let Republicans divide our community and country by turning us against each other.
- Republicans talk about God, Guns, and Gays because they can't talk about Healthcare, Education, and Jobs.
- Stay true to the courage of our convictions.
Confession: I can't remember the last time that I was at a political rally or heard a politician speak. Maybe Al Gore at my college graduation, and he was awful. (This was when he was still Veep.) I've been more of a participant by distance. I read. I watch the news programs (that don't disgust me). I watch C-Span. Heck, up until this election I didn't do anything besides vote. But for 2004, I phonebanked, gave money, and canvassed. Oh, and I'm addicted to blogs.
But I never heard any politician speak live in 2004. Not once. So this was pretty cool. Not because of the content, but because I got to stand in a room full of 300 people applauding his words along with me. I particularly liked the women 20 years my senior who kept throwing up their arms and screaming "hell yeah."
I stood in the back and took this photo. The blur with the arrow pointing to it is Dean. I swear.
The Subway
After the speech, I had no reason to hang out, so I just started back to the 42nd street station. Down on the first floor, I noticed a group of people huddled around. In the center, was Dean. I paused, thought to take another photograph because my earlier ones are so crappy. But I thought, naw, better not to bother, time to go. So, I went down into the subway. The weird thing was that Howard Dean was following me. Into the subway.
Now, I've lived in NYC for roughly ten years. In that time, I've had my share of celebrity encounters, and I thought up until today that I had gotten pretty good, pretty harden, pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. Look up from dinner, and, oh, that girl from Saturday Night Live. Or some Oscar winner. Or, I'm in a club, look over, and hey, that's Norah Jones or Beck or Clare Danes. I fly the Delta Shuttle, and there's George Stephanopoulos on his phone. (True story: I was riding the shuttle to Boston and saw George in the waiting area saying, "Schieffer just had good guests. He didn't do anything new." This was the week after George had taken over This Week on ABC, and he got beaten in the ratings. I figure he was trying to explain why.)
This is all to say, that I thought I had learned what to do when you spot a celebrity: You make sure you have identified the person, and then you do nothing.
But then again, usually, the person isn't following you into the subway. And usually you did not just come from listening to this person give a predictable yet impassioning speech on the future of the country. So, I was all messed up. I went through the turnstile, and right behind me is Howard Dean.
So, I'm trying to figure out whether to snap another photo of Howard as he's trying to get through the turnstile. (He was having Metrocard troubles, so I figured, no, that would be embarrassing. But in his defense it was one of those new turnstiles that are like the exits. Like this:
Only newer.) Do I ask for a photo? But then again, we're not supposed to even take photos in the subway these days.
So after crisscrossing for an uncomfortably long time as he worked the turnstile, I mumbled "great speech," which I think he heard because he was 2 feet away from me, as he went towards to uptown A. And I watched as he scurried down the ramp to catch the train to whatever engagement he had next. And he did scurry. The train was pulling into the station, so he ran, alone, down the ramp and into the train. Of course, he might just have trying to get away from the crazy loiterers like, um, me.
What does all this mean for the future of the Democratic party? Absolutely nothing. But because I value the guidance of the Kossacks, I ask you, what would you do? When I wondered where best to give money during the election, the Kossacks guided me. When I wondering how best to get involved post-election, the Kossacks guided me. So, What would you have done if Howard Dean was behind you going into subway?