Obamadroids rally.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick came to Amherst this morning to hold a rally for presidential candidate Barack Obama ahead of this Tuesday's primary. Most of the Valley's political establishment is backing Hillary Clinton, and held a large rally for her a few days ago in Springfield, so this Amherst rally was meant to be a kind of counter-rally by the anti-Clinton forces.
There was a pretty good crowd considering what a cold, dreary morning it was today, but I would have expected it to have been even larger. Conspicuous in their absence: Black people.
Part of the problem is that the rally was thrown together with just 36 hours notice and there were contradictory reports in the media as to when the rally would be. The Hampshire Gazette reported the rally would begin at ten, but the Springfield Republican said 9:30. Deval was late, so in the end it didn't start at either time.
WWLP-TV22 was there interviewing the audience.
Organizers took advantage of the event to recruit volunteers for future campaigning if Obama should win the nomination.
There were lots of homemade signs, such as this rather cute one.
State Representative Ellen Story (left) was there greeting her constituents.
Town Hall types were also on hand, such as Gerald Weiss and Town Manager Larry Shaffer.
Interestingly, I overheard the person on the left tell the Town Manager, "Larry Kelly should hold a Romney rally and see if anyone shows up." They all laughed.
About quarter past Governor Patrick suddenly appeared.
Despite keeping the crowd waiting in the cold, Patrick received a warm welcome. There is no denying the guy has a lot of charisma. As to whether he's lived up to people's expectations of what his governorship would be, well that's another matter.
The first time I ever met Deval Patrick was in Amherst, at a meeting he held at the Jones Library just days after he announced his candidacy for governor. He was a virtual unknown at the time, but I alerted the readers of this blog that he was a person to watch - and we watched him march right into office! Today was the first time I've seen Deval in person since.
I've seen Barack Obama in person. In 2004 Mitch Ogulewicz and I were attending the Democrat National Convention in Boston when suddenly Obama came running past us and down the street towards the convention hall, apparently late for something. Today of course it would be impossible for him to just jog down the street like that.
I hope Obama gets the nomination. I think it would be easier for John McCain to beat him than Hillary.
Tomorrow is the big game, which made me think of this Amherst restaurant The Souper Bowl. I hear that they have the best New England Clam Chowder in town.
They also play up the football angle to the max.
GO NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!
5 comments:
Yes, The Beatles Video is Ace.I had never seen before.I guess The Beatles invented The Video Promo....By the time this video was made (1965?) ....They had became Too Posh to appear Live on British Telly Programmes such as Top Of The Pops........So This Was The Product they showed instead.
Enjoy The Clam Chowder !
I heard from Selectwoman Alisa Brewer that I just missed you at the rally. The person commenting to Larry Shaffer is the guy Larry calls His Lordship Gerry Weiss.
Many are Voting for Obama because he's Black. If I were an Obama fan, I'd vote for him because he's White! After all, isn't he as "White" as he is "Black"?
And many Veterans and other Patriots are Voting for McCain, because he's a "Veteran", and after all, he was a P.O.W. While I can sympathize with him, I really don't know how or why that would make him a better President. He has not made any spectacular contributions in Az for all the years he has been a Senator.
And many of the Woman Voting for Hillary say, "Because she's a Woman", or, "Because She's a Mom". What does that have to do with being qualified to be the leader of the Free World? I haven't a clue. Yes, she was married to an two term President, But so was Laura Bush. Does that make her qualified?
Or, "Voting for Change". However I have not heard about what kind of "Change". What are the Values? Seems like trying to make the other candidate look bad is more important that stating your principals, your values. Bash the other guy and that will make you look better? If that's all you have to offer America, get out of the race. We don't want you.
Hey Tommy, I did not think there were any Black folks in Amherst to speak of. Perhaps,
that is why they were non-existent at the Rally. When my son was at UMass in the 70's,
he said that he hardly saw any Black people in the town of Amherst. Has the population
swelled since then?
Did you see the large number at AIC when the governor came there for the rally.
Now this is where the Black folk really are.
Let's stay focused now and not spin things like the traditional media. Knowing what you
already know about the population there, that assessment was hardly worth mentioning.
Have a beautiful day.
Carmenceita Jones
Actually I’m supporting John McCain.
And one problem with Amherst Tommy, is that we don’t have a lot of black folks (5% vs 79% white guys like His Lordship).
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