So the girlfriend and I volunteered at today's Dr. Jill & Sen. Joe Biden rally on FSU's Langford Green. When we were asked to donate our time we had no clue what we were going to be doing. I had honestly assumed we would be handing out water to those in lines or waiving people through metal detectors. After a bit of milling around and finding our volunteer coordinator we were divided up into groups to take care of different assignments.
I decided that since I had my camera on me that I would try to get some shots of my little corner of the rally today, so I hope you enjoy my perspective.
The GF and I were tapped for press duty. Our one and only job was to make sure the local and national press were sequestered in their little pen, and to make sure that we didn't allow them into rope-line or ticket holder areas. As one might expect, the paid staff for the Obama/Biden campaigns have a code of strict message control, otherwise I don't think we would be talking about this campaign (we would probably be talking about the McCain/Palin ticket).
So I was lucky enough to be posted in front of the 'cut riser' that national news were using. The men and women up there looked worn and weary, as i'm sure everyone who has even a passing interest in this campaign is, now only 48-hours away from V-Day. They milled around and took pictures with their multi-thousand dollar rigs, complete with bags of lenses, filters and all manner of photo-magic...I'm snapping shots on my Canon Powershot A410 that I bought off EBay. The press is sipping coffee, scratching at least a week's worth of outgrowth, wondering how their kids and families are getting along, joking about SNL and thankful that their trip through Florida was during an extremely fortuitous "cool" day.
The ticket holders slowly filtered in first; volunteers and those lucky enough to be handed a garnet and gold ticket at pre-determined areas around Tallahassee. The mood was light and upbeat, like you would expect from a crowd that saw the light at the end of a very long, dark and oppressive tunnel. The sun was cutting through the haze, but a cold-front is moving in, so the breeze was a welcome comfort against our usually hot and muggy panhandle days, even in these waning days of Fall. I like to joke that Florida only has two seasons: Hot and Hotter. Today was neither, and we took notice.
Tallahassee is a small town with a population of big town inhabitants, trying to keep it a small town, but always heading back to their big town. This means that the locals generally all run in the same circles, so people were catching up with friends or fellow church members, season ticket holders lamenting the loss over the weekend (ON THE ONE YARD LINE FERCHRISSAKES!) while local and state Pols glad-handed and cajoled. Nothing brings out the politicians like a popular ticket.
The ladies from Bluegrass Generation held our attention until the time came for the short, but moving invocation by the campus UU minister, Pledge and the touching story, repeated all over the country in local Obama offices, of a volunteer coordinator who sold all her furniture to move across the nation and help a campaign in a place she had never been before in her life. Next was our Sen. Nelson, looking as plastic as ever, who introduced Dr. Jill Biden. Jill spoke for a few minutes to rousing calls of "Jill, Baby, Jill" and introduced her husband.
Sen. Biden came out, looking a bit tired, but ready for a fight. His hair(s) kept flapping in our miracle winds, but the man has a will that won't stop, and no matter the weariness on his face, his tone was solid and his empathy palpable. Even to a political junkie who has sought out his speeches, who has heard the one-liners and the stories, it's still amazing to be in the presence of those who are hearing these words for the first time and literally feel the collective choking back of tears and lumps in throats as he delivered his anecdote about the 'long walk up a short set of stairs'. At one point the McCain supporters across the street were cranking a hand-siren, attempting to get some attention, which riled up Biden, who quipped that the siren sounds like a whine from back here. Later in his speech he talked about bringing everyone together, that our problems were bigger than one party, and that we had to find ways to reach out to 'the folks over on the other side of the street'. After his short, but moving speech Biden worked the rope line (which was a line of barricades), shook hands, took pictures, and to the consternation of his staff and secret service spent almost an hour making the rounds, collecting things to sign and stopping for a short, but powerful moment to speak with a young girl whom it seems he was very personal with.
It was a great day, I feel honored to be a small part of the effort, and I hope that everyone gets a chance to feel ownership of a small part of this work that so many have signed up for. I hope you enjoy some of my pics, they aren't the best, but they are truth.
-Peace, Love and Elbow Grease.