Hillary may have been here for Saturday's parade.
But on the day that matters to those with even a little Irish heritage (hello, County Sligo), Barack Obama was the one that came to Scranton on Saint Patrick's Day.
His first appointment was at Whistle's Pub, where it was "by invite only". MTV Networks were filming something in there, a Q&A session with the junior Senator from Illinois and a selection of veterans.
And the WNEP-16 7pm news had the scoop.
(If any video gives you an error message, come back within the hour. YouTube needs to work its magic).
Obama's speech lasted for nine minutes. In it, he thanked the Casey family, especially Margie Casey McGrath. See my diary on Saturday for the news I broke concerning McGrath's printing company, the political material she was churning out, and how it must have been a CHANGE from the usual print jobs. You heard it here first. I'd say Bob Casey is yayy close to declaring for Obama.
If not being a possibility for VP.
Here's the video of the speech.
Immediately after the speech, Obama was to leave the room. But he made a bee-line to talk to the Casey table. To Margie especially, whom he had praised during his speech.
This was no stump speech. It was for the occasion, it was funny, and I think he won over a few Hillary supporters in the room. Some in Scranton call this "Hillary Country". We will just have to see about that, I guess.
He'll be addressing the idea of race in Philadelphia tomorrow. I'd say he did it tonight too, and very nicely too.
I hope he returns. With over five weeks to go, he will. Maybe to the new High School, maybe to the Wachovia Arena. But he will be back. And I'll be there.