Pee Dee the Pirate salutes the Obama campaign from East Carolina University!
Greetings Mateys... from my little slice of heaven, called Greenville, North Carolina! I often tell people that Greenville isn't the end of the world but you can see it from here... and guess what? Barack Obama payed us a visit today!!! He filled Williams Arena at Minges coliseum, promptly hoisting the no quarter flag and pledging to force John McCain to walk the plank in November! It was pretty cool to have the Obama logo, at lease for a day, changed to purple and gold!
I'm amazed at the energy that he seems to have. He had spoken earlier in the day in Raleigh, North Carolina, our state capitol and about an hour and a half from Greenville. He hopped right on stage, hitting all of his marks to a really enthusiastic college crowd.
I especially liked that he spent the vast majority of his time speaking to the people there, and their concerns... outlining his solutions for healthcare, higher education, the economy, and ending the war in Iraq. It's almost like he simply went ahead and presented the debate that should have happened last night. In so doing, there was really only one reference to Hillary throughout the entire evening... and it was respectful.
On the other hand, he really let the Cheney/Bush administration have it with both barrels to thunderous applause. It was also pretty classy that even though he was accompanied by Price and Butterfield of North Carolina, he was ultimately introduced to the crowd by a reformed local Republican.
It was a joy to feel the excitement here tonight... this was the first one of these things that I've attended since I was a college student. I hope this one works out better... the last one I attended was a Mondale/Ferraro rally in Greensboro, NC.
It's incredible the level of organization that his campaign has brought into the state of North Carolina in a few short weeks, opening 21 local campaign offices. The kids at ECU made me feel really proud with the way they had worked the crowd, organized, and ultimately kicked off North Carolina's early vote and one-stop registration drive. I cast my ballot the first thing this morning... I'll leave you to guess for whom...
Come visit us someday! We'll leave the sunrise on for ya!