First I want to thank the great people at Prairie State Blue for allowing me to share my thoughts with you on what will be a historic week for our country and a special moment for my friend and mentor Barack Obama.
I'll be leaving in a few hours to head to Denver for a week that I am really looking forward to, but it has already been an eventful weekend. Things got started on a humid night in Southern Illinois on Friday when I joined other proud Democrats all across the region at the opening of the DuQuoin State Fair.
Later that night we made our way to Springfield and awoke to find that Barack had chosen Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate. Joe Biden is exactly the kind of pick that will energize the campaign. He brings a can-do spirit and know-how that will be necessary to turn change into a reality. But possibly more importantly, at a time when ordinary Americans are struggling all across the country, Joe Biden is someone who has faced the kind of adversity that would test any man's resolve. Who better than Joe Biden to show Americans that extraordinary things are possible even in the most challenging of times. This week we will have an opportunity to show the country what a great American Joe Biden is.
With all the talk of superdelegates deciding the race between Clinton and Obama, I thought I'd take a look and see which way our Illinois superdelegates are turning:
OK, first, I don't know how I got invited to this particular gathering; and this was definitely not what I expected it would be.
A few nights ago, my partner and I were invited to join a few other people in a private home at which Howard Dean spoke, mingled, and was generous and congenial.
I've been at Howard Dean gatherings before. The last time was in a room with several hundred other people in red chairs arranged to look at the podium, when Jan Schakowsky opened for Howard Dean like he was a rock star, which, let's face it, he is.
But not that night. That night there were 15-20 of us in a very nice house with very nice food and sitting comfortably on very nice furniture.
And, again, for the life of me, I have no idea why I was there, but, I was, and here's your report.
This afternoon, I participated in the DNC's 50 state canvass. The canvass was in Edgewater, with the Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA group, impeccably organized by Sandra Verthein. To be honest, it was the first canvass I've been to in a couple years that was run by somebody else, and it sure was pleasant and relaxing not to have to triple-check that I had all the clipboards with me before leaving the house, not to have to feel nervous about whether anyone would show up as I drove there in the light drizzle.
As I approached the cafe we were meeting in, I couldn't help but wonder whether this was really necessary, whether I really needed to be tromping around in the rain, not even on behalf of any particular candidate, less than one week after the beginning of my self-imposed pre-wedding political vacation. But then...
