I spent this morning driving from Cambridge, MA, to Manchester, NH, to attend the rally for Barack Obama in Veterans Memorial Park. We arrived early and after standing in line for about an hour our group of four had the good luck to be among the 80 or so people selected to stand on the bleachers behind Obama when he spoke.
An organizer helpfully warned us that we needed to be prepared to stay in place for a couple of hours and asked us to stand and in general behave properly during Obama's speech. We were then ushered through a security line to our positions on the benches where we spent almost an hour before the proceedings began. We passed the time chatting with our neighbors, watching a steady stream of people fill in more an more of the park, and expressing our enthusiasm by waving the placards we had been issued and chanting.
We cheered in unison about "Obama," "Biden," and, taking our cue from our placards and the huge banner that hung behind us, "Change." We made a lot of noise and had fun, but none of our chants really voiced the conviction and urgency of Obama's cause.
Once Obama arrived and the applause subsided, he began his speech, during which he referred only to a few notes about the names of local leaders. He spoke about the need to help the victims of hurricane Ike that was raging over much of Texas. He spoke of the "quiet storms" that affect thousands of Americans every day. He spoke of how John McCain "just doesn't get it," and the need for change. He spoke about his plan to develop alternative energy sources and cut our need for Middle Eastern oil within ten years. He spoke about the pathetically memorable Republican alternative, "Drill, baby, drill."
Then I had a moment of zen. We should chant "Change, baby, change," right back at them.
Try it at your next rally.
Change, baby, change.