I ≠ a Superdelegate, but...
... I am well on my way to becoming the official "undecided voter" of Columbus, Oh.
Cut for long, since parts of it are lifted from earlier emails, and because I wanted to document this for myself:
WEDNESDAY:
went to a Chelsea Clinton event on campus . It was a very quickly organized event, but I was still surprised that there were only about 150 people there. They were not pre-screening questions at all -- just raise-your-hand-and-get-called-on style. I was one of the first few questions of the event. I identified myself as an undecided voter (which I still am) and mentioned the fact that one of the big issues of the campaign has been a candidate's ability to be inspirational. So I asked, "ok, I'm going to throw you a softball here: how is your mom inspirational?". She first said that, well, of course, Hillary is her mom. But then she segued into a discussion of her mom's work with the children's legal fund after law school, and some of her other progressive resume lines.
Slightly before the end of the event, I was approached by a woman from a local news station, and asked if I would do a quick interview. I agreed, and talked to her for a few minutes. A clip of both my initial question and of my interview (and the fact that I am STILL undecided) aired on the 5pm news, and apparently again on the 10pm news here.
THURSDAY:
Ben and I went to Hillary Clinton's speech, also on campus. I'd estimate that there were around 1200 (?) people there -- but this was Valentine's night, again with very little notice. She was really very good (Though I'm not able to turn my cynicism off for the the first 2/3 of these things, apparently). She was introduced by governor Strickland and John Glenn (and also had representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones and one other African American rep with her on stage). She talked for about 35 minutes, about 90% issues, with a few minutes here and there about 'substance over speeches' and 'no one thought I was viable in New York either' stuff. If the two Clinton events have taught me anything it's that I don't know as much as I'd like to about the issues. Also amusing: When I was walking past the press area, a reporter with a beard said "didn't I see you yesterday, on tv?"
FRIDAY:
Shawn and I went to Michelle Obama's speech, which was technically on campus but pretty far away. I've read news reports that put it about 600-700 people, which sounds right. This was a notably more racially diverse crowd, and somewhat younger but no younger than the Chelsea event. (Though -as Ben pointed out -- a lot of the young people for Clinton were gay men). Lots more babies. This time the guest-introducer was Columbus mayor Michael Coleman and his wife Frankie. Michelle's Obama's speech was really beautiful, though, to be honest, I'd seen 80% of it before online. She started strong with the "OH-IO" call, but then accidentally called Ohio "Iowa". But she fixed it quickly and actually pretty well, saying that she just said that because it feel like the come-from-behind momentum of Iowa, and that she wanted us to help Barack win Ohio like he won Iowa. Oops. But she really gives a beautiful speech, and, while there was precious little actual policy discussed, she made reference to the fact that *anyone* can be strong on issues, and that Barack is strong on them, but that electing her husband would [insert powerful message about hope/change/dreams/unity here].
As soon as I walked into the event I was called out by name by the reporter who 'interviewed' me on Tuesday, who asked if I was still undecided. I said that yes I was, and that I had seen Hillary last night and been impressed, which was making things difficult. She asked if she could interview me again after Michelle's speech, and I agreed.When the event ended, Shawn and I walked toward the front of the room to try and see Mrs. Obama and take some pictures. We pretty much failed, but while we tried we were approached by the guy with the beard who had recognized me at the Hillary event. He identified himself as being from public radio (!) and asked if he could talk with me. I agreed, and the story is here: http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wosu/local-wosu-677126.mp3 . I'm at the very end.
The second he was done, the woman from ABC was there with the camera, and asked me a lot of the same questions that the other guy had. I used both opportunities to say that I am still undecided (which I am) and that I would really like to see them in the same room, to play on both of their strengths. When I got home tonight, I watched my DVRed edition of the news, which I was definitely on again. During the 5pm broadcast they just discussed the day's event and talked to some Obama supporters, but said to "join us at 6, where we'll show you a young voter who has been to three events in three days and see if she's made up her mind." Sure enough, the 6 o'clock news did a whole mini-feature on my undecidedness, showing clips of me on Wednesday and me today, still being undecided. Again, they showed that I want a debate in Columbus. Sadly, the clip isn't online, but the reporter said if I emailed her, she'd try to get me a copy of these clips. (I have them on DVR, but don't know how to transfer that to any useful medium).
But back to the event: as soon as I was done talking to the ABC reporter, I was approached by some very sweet Obama volunteers (older Somali women) who had heard my discussions with both reporters, who said that if I wanted to talk issues, they were more than happy to talk with me themselves, or to arrange someone to talk with me about whatever issues I felt were most important. I explained that most of what I wanted to know was on the web site, but I wanted to hear it from the candidate and hear it all fused together. Though, obviously, that is idiotic. He has policy papers on every issue and sub-issue and sub-sub issue on his web site; I just need to stop reading blogs about polls and take a few hours to read about the issues. And, of course, that's outside of other issues like ability to beat McCain, the value of experience, fear of corruption / ethical issues, the relative importance of "firsts" for an African American / Woman president, etc. None of which I really have strong feelings about, though I think they are all generally important.
So, yeah. I received my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday, but have decided to wait and vote on election day, which is March 4th here. I'd still ilke to see Barack in person (and Bill, though that's less important). And I'd like to attend a debate.
Cut for long, since parts of it are lifted from earlier emails, and because I wanted to document this for myself:
WEDNESDAY:
went to a Chelsea Clinton event on campus . It was a very quickly organized event, but I was still surprised that there were only about 150 people there. They were not pre-screening questions at all -- just raise-your-hand-and-get-called-on style. I was one of the first few questions of the event. I identified myself as an undecided voter (which I still am) and mentioned the fact that one of the big issues of the campaign has been a candidate's ability to be inspirational. So I asked, "ok, I'm going to throw you a softball here: how is your mom inspirational?". She first said that, well, of course, Hillary is her mom. But then she segued into a discussion of her mom's work with the children's legal fund after law school, and some of her other progressive resume lines.
Slightly before the end of the event, I was approached by a woman from a local news station, and asked if I would do a quick interview. I agreed, and talked to her for a few minutes. A clip of both my initial question and of my interview (and the fact that I am STILL undecided) aired on the 5pm news, and apparently again on the 10pm news here.
THURSDAY:
Ben and I went to Hillary Clinton's speech, also on campus. I'd estimate that there were around 1200 (?) people there -- but this was Valentine's night, again with very little notice. She was really very good (Though I'm not able to turn my cynicism off for the the first 2/3 of these things, apparently). She was introduced by governor Strickland and John Glenn (and also had representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones and one other African American rep with her on stage). She talked for about 35 minutes, about 90% issues, with a few minutes here and there about 'substance over speeches' and 'no one thought I was viable in New York either' stuff. If the two Clinton events have taught me anything it's that I don't know as much as I'd like to about the issues. Also amusing: When I was walking past the press area, a reporter with a beard said "didn't I see you yesterday, on tv?"
FRIDAY:
Shawn and I went to Michelle Obama's speech, which was technically on campus but pretty far away. I've read news reports that put it about 600-700 people, which sounds right. This was a notably more racially diverse crowd, and somewhat younger but no younger than the Chelsea event. (Though -as Ben pointed out -- a lot of the young people for Clinton were gay men). Lots more babies. This time the guest-introducer was Columbus mayor Michael Coleman and his wife Frankie. Michelle's Obama's speech was really beautiful, though, to be honest, I'd seen 80% of it before online. She started strong with the "OH-IO" call, but then accidentally called Ohio "Iowa". But she fixed it quickly and actually pretty well, saying that she just said that because it feel like the come-from-behind momentum of Iowa, and that she wanted us to help Barack win Ohio like he won Iowa. Oops. But she really gives a beautiful speech, and, while there was precious little actual policy discussed, she made reference to the fact that *anyone* can be strong on issues, and that Barack is strong on them, but that electing her husband would [insert powerful message about hope/change/dreams/unity here].
As soon as I walked into the event I was called out by name by the reporter who 'interviewed' me on Tuesday, who asked if I was still undecided. I said that yes I was, and that I had seen Hillary last night and been impressed, which was making things difficult. She asked if she could interview me again after Michelle's speech, and I agreed.When the event ended, Shawn and I walked toward the front of the room to try and see Mrs. Obama and take some pictures. We pretty much failed, but while we tried we were approached by the guy with the beard who had recognized me at the Hillary event. He identified himself as being from public radio (!) and asked if he could talk with me. I agreed, and the story is here: http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wosu/local-wosu-677126.mp3 . I'm at the very end.
The second he was done, the woman from ABC was there with the camera, and asked me a lot of the same questions that the other guy had. I used both opportunities to say that I am still undecided (which I am) and that I would really like to see them in the same room, to play on both of their strengths. When I got home tonight, I watched my DVRed edition of the news, which I was definitely on again. During the 5pm broadcast they just discussed the day's event and talked to some Obama supporters, but said to "join us at 6, where we'll show you a young voter who has been to three events in three days and see if she's made up her mind." Sure enough, the 6 o'clock news did a whole mini-feature on my undecidedness, showing clips of me on Wednesday and me today, still being undecided. Again, they showed that I want a debate in Columbus. Sadly, the clip isn't online, but the reporter said if I emailed her, she'd try to get me a copy of these clips. (I have them on DVR, but don't know how to transfer that to any useful medium).
But back to the event: as soon as I was done talking to the ABC reporter, I was approached by some very sweet Obama volunteers (older Somali women) who had heard my discussions with both reporters, who said that if I wanted to talk issues, they were more than happy to talk with me themselves, or to arrange someone to talk with me about whatever issues I felt were most important. I explained that most of what I wanted to know was on the web site, but I wanted to hear it from the candidate and hear it all fused together. Though, obviously, that is idiotic. He has policy papers on every issue and sub-issue and sub-sub issue on his web site; I just need to stop reading blogs about polls and take a few hours to read about the issues. And, of course, that's outside of other issues like ability to beat McCain, the value of experience, fear of corruption / ethical issues, the relative importance of "firsts" for an African American / Woman president, etc. None of which I really have strong feelings about, though I think they are all generally important.
So, yeah. I received my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday, but have decided to wait and vote on election day, which is March 4th here. I'd still ilke to see Barack in person (and Bill, though that's less important). And I'd like to attend a debate.