I was at the Obama rally in Española, New Mexico today. It was a day of grace - never mind that it was too hot, and we had to wait WAY too long, and Obama mispronounced a few names (including Lt. Gov. Diane DEN-ish, not Den-ISH). But the crowd was great! And our ground game is gonna make it happen in New Mexico.
Obama's speech has already been covered adequately. I'm gonna focus on the audience instead. It was a good crowd, with people from all over the state (and beyond). Even with the heat, the quality and quantity of energy was infectious. I watch numbers, so I know that the volunteers on the ground, and the registration numbers are going well. Obama just opened up an office in Chama. Friggin' Chama!
The first people in line were a group from El Rito, near Abiquiu (famous as Georgia O'Keefe country). They got there at 5am! I was a relative latecomer, not getting to the line till about 7:30. I had to be early to park at TheFatLadySings across the street - before the Secret Service closed the street down. The woman in the back chair is from nearby Los Alamos - a town pretty well represented today, too. I took this picture at about 7:30am when the temperature was still in the 50s:
It was a few hours till the gates were to open. Before 8am you could walk around the grounds - the security sweep and sealing the area came later. The gazebo that shows on the left was a shaded, raised area for handicapped, elderly and special needs people to be present and stay safe.
This guy has a DNC permit (it's in another picture), and has been a campaign camp follower for months. He knows the mood of the electorate as much as anyone, I'd venture to say. And he has a lot of confidence about how things are going, which I'm glad to hear.
Here's a local, from Española. He told me he remembers, as a boy, going to see JFK when he came to Española in 1960. He was there with his daughter, a nurse, who took the day off work. Plenty of kids were around today who will be able to tell about his day in years to come, too.
Meet Tatiana and her dad Cedric. Her school let any kid who wanted to go off school today. Whole classes were there, and I got interviewed by one kid from the Santa Clara Pueblo BIA Day School who was assigned to do a report. The schools, sensibly enough, decided that sometimes it's better to witness history than to read about it in a book. I asked Tatiana if she likes Obama. She said, "Yeah"
Retired probate judge Lorenzo Martinez is from Alcalde. He remembers when JFK came, too. His granddaughter insisted he come today, and drove him to the rally site.
Another elitist for Obama:
I also think that Obama's got most of the nose-ring-and-tattoos voters sewn up. This family is from Rio Rancho in Sandoval County, Albuquerque suburbs. Sandoval was the last county to report in 2004, and sealed Dubya's victory. They told me, as did a couple of women from Republican Aztec, in the natural-gas producing northwest corner of the state, that things have changed since 2004. It feels different, and Obama supporters are fired up about having field operations in their areas after years and years of being ignored. Some of the towns, like Chama and Ratón, have never had a Presidential campaign operation in their towns before. Wow!
Edwin Fernandez, a Vietnam Veteran, is Obama campaign Neighborhood Team Captain for the mountain villages up around Peñasco. Anywhere he shows up, he's always got the best shirt in the crowd. No idea where he finds them:
I met this young lady, from the Española Valley High School's mariachi band, early on, then crossed paths again after everything was over. And tradition may dictate that I must post at least one picture with a shoe theme, eh?
Here she is onstage. They did a great job, and she said it was by far the biggest crowd they'd ever performed in front of. For all the tradition of this kind of music, I loved how modern it was that a girl was playing bass.
They kept us entertained for nearly an hour while we were waiting for Obama. The whole time, these tech guys were fiddling around with the teleprompter. It was like a whole committee of them, and it took 'em a long time to decide it was OK. The kids did a great job not getting distracted by it:
This is part of a family from Los Alamos in the crowd. Oh, and can you identify that lady in the silver hoop earrings in the BG? (Hint: She came up in one of the odd "distractions" of the 2000 Presidential election.)
It's actress Ali McGraw! One of the many Santa Feans in the crowd. Mixing with the hoi polloi. Remember how "Love Story" was (partly?) inspired by Al & Tipper Gore? She was the tragic female lead actress in that movie, for those who don't know:
These women are from Los Alamos, too. One's from India, working on HIV/AIDS research at the National Lab. Not a citizen of the U.S. so she can't vote. "But that's no reason I can't volunteer for the campaign!", she insisted. The other grew up in the town with the world's highest per capita PhDs, and the nation's county with highest per capita income, too. Even though that county is one of the few in the state with more registered Republicans than Dems, she said it feels different this time. Perhaps like the rest of the country, people with a lot of education tend to prefer Obama?
Like the guy with the buttons, these guys travel everywhere with the campaign. It's really quite a big operation. Unlike the guy with the buttons, I didn't get to talk to them. The building is a reconstruction of the San Gabriel Mission built when Oñate made the first Spanish settlement in Nuevo Mexico back in 1598, very near this location. It's known as El Convento:
Ben Ray Luján, the next Congressman from NM-03. In Rio Arriba County, 72% Hispanic population (2006 estimate, US Census), a lot of the words from the podium were in Spanish. Ben Ray's bumperstickers, etc. all say Luján, not Lujan. In this part of the world, la gente know the difference.
The biggest cheers throughout the day were for "end the war". But by the time Big Bill got the microphone, the crowd had been waiting in the hot sun nearly 4 hours. The cheer when he said "Do you want me to stop talking and bring on Senator Obama?" was a close second.
I think I mentioned there were many hours of waiting. This guy? That sunburn's gotta hurt!
Finally came the main event. Obama! Like at many campaign appearances, he interrupted his speech to take leadership of an incident when someone fainted. "No, don't try and get them to stand up again. They might be dizzy. Let the EMTs, those wonderful public servants, get there to help"
This was a good, satisfying event, with a celebratory tone. Much different feel than the dutiful ritual event when Hillary Clinton came to this same small city a few weeks ago. But perhaps that was necessary for this event to be such a success. Obama's ready, and the country is, too. New Mexico definitely is ready.
Viva Obama! Si Se Puede! There's a lot of work to do, but New Mexico's gonna be OK this time. I'm confident we'll do our part in the National effort. It was a day of grace, and to top it off, there were some rainbows along the way during the drive home. This song was created for the Texas primaries last spring, but its spirit fit the day yesterday very well.
And thanks to TheFatLadySings, whose house was right next to this park. She provided various much-appreciated hospitality. And will have her own diary up before long. Just has some dishes to do first...