O-mentum sans Obama

This is not a political blog in any way. As whatever readers it has so far can probably already tell, the basic format normally goes along the lines of Hey, something unusual happened to me (or someone I know) today. Here's a witty take on it.

But politics are important, to use the blandest statement possible, especially with the state primary a little more than a month away. When something big happens in (or near) center city, chances are I'll try to post something on it. This evening's Obama rally was big. Even though he wasn't around.

At least 500 people showed up for the Charlotte campaign's inaugural organizational meeting at its brand-spanking new, futuristic headquarters on 1523 Elizabeth Avenue (shiny white walls, glass-encased offices, overwhelmed young people running around everywhere).


The official start time was 6 pm. People began showing up at 4:30, and by the time I got there at 6:15 traffic was being directed into overflow lots. The crowd overflowed onto the sidewalk from a large reception room adjacent to the headquarters.

All the generic Obama-rally media descriptions then played out before my eyes. The crowd was diverse in age, race, class (from what one can tell by clothing and facial hair), gender, sexuality, and body odor. Those running the show looked younger than twenty-five. An older volunteer began reminiscing to me about the Kennedys. Everyone chanted "Yes We Can" and "Fired Up, Ready to Go." They said were looking for hope and change.



I played reporter and interviewed a lady wearing a pink "Women for Obama" button named Angela Sewell. In every possible way, she was the idealized Obama supporter. This was her first time volunteering for and donating to a campaign. She knew everything about the issues and candidates. She was all about the grassroots. She had been a Hillary supporter, but came to believe she couldn't be trusted, and gave in to the desire for change.

As soon as I pulled my pad out, she talked excitedly for fifteen minutes without pause. She could have gone much longer.

(I realize this is getting quite sappy at this point. But the Obama campaign, if you think about it, is about as sappy as they come. And this was quintessential Obama campaign, the type of event that might be described on his Web site and easily dismissed as drummed-up propaganda.)

One morning this week, Sewell met a young man outside the bank who hadn't decided between Obama and McCain. "Well, I was late for work," she said, as a little boy walked by in a "Change You Can Believe In" shirt.

Sewell was obsessed with registering people to vote. She uses her job as a stylist at a barber shop toward that end, or to demand that ignorant customers read up before they sit back down in her chair. She's started keeping the shop TV tuned to CNN.

The kid centered in the picture above was organizing a drive to register voters. All the people around him were volunteering to be neighborhood captains, or some title like that. He didn't have a business card or remember his cell phone number.

Anyway, if anyone hears of events like this from the other two candidates, or something else of note, please let me know. The blogger Ben Smith linked to an exhaustive description of the NC primary, for those who are interested.