The General Election Started Tonight in Grand Rapids

I have to say, I thought Edwards speech was smoother than Obama's. (4.00 / 3)

He just speaks so well to the people of Michigan.

I also agree with you that we might have seen our ticket tonight.  

"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

~Samuel Adams

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by: LisainManistee @ Wed May 14, 2008 at 23:40:34 PM CDT

From my vantage point: (4.00 / 4)

The volunteers almost didn't make it into the event. We were moved inside, after having spent the afternoon herding the crowds, when the place was just about full. The original plan was to have us on the floor, but that was full. We finally got seats in a section that had been set aside, but finding it meant wandering all over the place.

All that queasiness disappeared as we saw our candidate come on stage, then introduce John Edwards.

The event had a spare quality - all the superfluous elements of introductions of local politicians stripped away. Pared down to an American worker, his candidate, and another who has done so much to articulate these issues.

The four of us from Kalamazoo who were sitting together looked at each other and said "That's our ticket."

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 00:12:23 AM CDT

They look great together. (4.00 / 3)

What a ticket it would be.  

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by: dkmich @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 05:01:20 AM CDT

Nice summation (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for the "insiders" point of view.  

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by: Kathy @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:19:30 AM CDT

What a great day for MI Dems! (4.00 / 3)

Nice to not be the red-haired step child for a while.  I can't tell you how excited I am that they decided to do this endorsement here.  

I couldn't be more pleased.

Julie

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by: JNelson @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:45:32 AM CDT

That First Picture of Edwards on this Diary (4.00 / 3)

Well, clearly, he's looking right at me.  He adores me, I can't help it.

As for me, I was hoopin' and hollerin' like a groupie, much to the amusement of everyone around me.  What a great night.

We got in line at 4:30 and everything ran incredibly smoothly.  However, I was surprised that our friends couldn't get in after arriving at 5:45.  They were patted down and sent back outside to listen on a speaker.  Also surprised they didn't fire up the JumboTron so all of us could get a better look at our next President.  But cudos to the planning staff.

Saw a bunch of Muskegon Party bigwigs.  Their seats were no better than mine, I am happy to say.  I totally agree that dispensing with the usual back-slapping intros and getting right to the candidate was refresing.  And he was  early!  Got to love that.

Edwards told Larry King the other night that he was absolutely, positively not seeking a VP ship.  He said he was going to concentrate on his Poverty Agenda.

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by: gauchiste @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 07:29:45 AM CDT

I secretly hope he's the VP (4.00 / 1)

(or maybe not so secretly), but after last night I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he didn't get a cabinet position.  

"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

~Samuel Adams

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by: LisainManistee @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 07:44:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Edwards for AG (4.00 / 2)

and then perhaps onto the Supreme Court one there's a vacancy.

Julie

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by: JNelson @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 07:56:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Lisa, I love that sig line (4.00 / 2)

I'm gonna steal that when the diss goes book.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:35:02 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's one of my favorites. (4.00 / 1)

I've always hard a soft spot for agitators.  

"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

~Samuel Adams

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by: LisainManistee @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 09:03:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Any idea from your frirends how many (4.00 / 1)

couldn't get in?

Bummer for folks that had to work or are from outside Kent.

Just because Johnny isn't "seeking" the VPship, doesn't mean he wouldn't say yes if he was asked.  I mean, you can do more to fight poverty as VP and with President Obama's ear, than you can in any NGO.

I think Obama-Edwards works real well, especially if you did a pre-cabinet (like Bush did with Powell in 2000) with someone like Wes Clark and Richard Holbrook.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:23:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

A good friend from Kalamazoo (4.00 / 2)

who came up after work, was fifth in line from the cut-off point. He went to a local bar and watched. Didn't ask him how many could not make it. Here is most of the Kalamazoo volunteers afterward (me, 2nd L):

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:42:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

sorry we couldn't meet up Mark (4.00 / 3)

I had to hang with the folks that had the code to get my car our of their office basement parkinglot.  Great night for West Michigan!

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:52:40 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Can't do everything. (4.00 / 3)

I was supposed to be handing out flyers for the upcoming Justice Caucus Camp Millie events in GR & Kalamazoo, but there was too much to do, and no time to find someone else to do that part.

We need to pick a time when nothing else is going on (Ha!) and just get together in GR, which is as central as you can get for our group. You can do lots of organizing over the net, but  FTF is still better for brainstorming.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:14:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Of Course This Means (4.00 / 5)

PhilGoBlue has now completely climbed aboard the Obama bandwagon.

To paraphrase Johnny:

The American voters have made their decision, John Edwards has made his decision, and so I've made my decision.  I'm for Barack Obama to be the Democratic Party nominee and then the next President of the United States.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:33:48 AM CDT

Heh (4.00 / 3)

Phil even coughed up some cabbage and bought an Obama T-shirt.  :)

 Of course that meant I had to pay for his beer afterwards.  :(

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by: greee @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 11:14:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

You Were In the Press Section?! (4.00 / 3)

Man, I had you pegged up on the platform, blue coated, lawyer-ish, second row from the top on the left.  

We had picked up the text-message about Edwards coming, but even then, when he did: wow.  Did the place every erupt.  I so miss not having a chance to give him the love in January.  But it was terrific all the same.  

Got there at 4:30 and walked on to the main floor, fifty feet (if that) from the lectern.  What a night for Grand Rapids.

Also taking his share of wild swings at political analysis at Windmillin'

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by: Harris @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 09:42:30 AM CDT

that was me (4.00 / 3)

elbowing CNN out of the way so that WMR could get good video.

Democrats are suckers for bloggers!  Seriously, the Obama campaign made it very easy and their staff and the Van Andel staff were professional and friendly.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 09:47:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I was trying to see you here: (4.00 / 2)

Bloggers Row

The party does appreciate the potential of the blogosphere, and is doing a lot to encourage us.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 10:20:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I can't edit comments (4.00 / 2)

or I would pull the align=left tag from the above pic. Still have to learn just how these things interact in nested comments.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 10:23:47 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

no one can (4.00 / 1)

not even the poobaah.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 13:40:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

see the three suits standing in the front row (4.00 / 1)

of the VIP area on the right.  THen  you see a woman sitting next to them.  That's County Commissioner Carol Hennessy and then you can see me on a chair talking to her and Commish Brandon Dillon and Mark's fellow delegate Armand Robinson (you can see his gray hair right below my face).

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 21:07:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Y'know how... (0.00 / 0)

on all those police procedural shows on TeeVee they'll zoom in  on a fuzzy surveillance tape, and click a button, and it all becomes crystal clear, with 10x resolution?

Yeah, right.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 22:52:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The Obama Campaign... (4.00 / 2)

made it very easy for us bloggers to get press credentials. I half expected that when I showed up to claim them that I would have been turned away. But no! They let me in. The rally was a blast.

I second what phil said about their staff and the Van Andel staff in their professionalism.  

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by: rich @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 14:44:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Did Phil ever tell you the story of how we talked our (4.00 / 1)

way into last years Jeff-Jac dinner?  Armed with a laptop and no tickets . . . .  

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by: greee @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 15:05:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Here's a view of a little part of the line (4.00 / 3)

People were nervous when they saw that there was more than one line, kept asking us "Will we get in?" Of course, I was a trained parrot - I was telling them exactly as much as I knew about the situation - "No big bags, no signs, turn your cameras and cell phones on", etc. One woman insisted on informing me exactly how things could be run better... "Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Uh-huh. Yes."

But by and large, it was a great, friendly, 'fired up' crowd. No hassles, and a wonderful slice of Michigan humanity.

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by: memiller @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 10:05:10 AM CDT

Just heard the Steel Workers endorsed Obama n/t (4.00 / 3)

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by: greee @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 12:05:14 PM CDT

Benefit #2 of Edwards' Endorsement (4.00 / 2)

The Carpenters already went to Obama along with all CTW, but the Mine Workers haven't, I wonder if they're next.

UAW?

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 13:40:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The Endorsement Statement by the Steelworkers (0.00 / 0)

When the presidential primary contests began last year, our Union felt strongly that because of Senator John Edwards's deep commitment to working people and because of our shared beliefs, he deserved our strong endorsement.  His belief that unfair trade policies must be changed, his commitment to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to restore workers' rights to freely choose workplace representation, and his proposal for universal health care were widely shared by our members.

Today, by virtue of a unanimous vote of our International Executive Board, we find ourselves once again in agreement with Senator Edwards, this time with his decision last evening to endorse Senator Barack Obama.  And thus today, the United Steelworkers enthusiastically endorses Senator Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States.

Senator Obama's call for a significant change of direction amounts to far more than a compelling rallying cry.  It is buttressed by his record of consistent support for workers, by his call for sweeping changes to our health care system, by his unflinching support for Employee Free Choice, and by his insistence that America's trade policies must, first and foremost, serve the interests of America's working families....

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 22:41:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Mediamouse.org Coverage (4.00 / 1)

Here's the Mediamouse.org take on the rally, focusing a bit more on the substance of what was said:

http://www.mediamouse.org/feat...

mediamouse.org: grand rapids

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by: velo @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 14:09:38 PM CDT

Edwards For AG (4.00 / 1)

I don't want Edwards talents wasted at VP. Gov. Richardson would make a good VP based on his experience. I want Edwards for AG with Wanted Posters in his office for the War Criminals from the Bush Administration and a clear mandate to fully investigate what went on for the last 8 years.  

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by: ppwiii @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 16:30:12 PM CDT

the goal is victory (4.00 / 2)

And I'm starting to think that Edwards might be the best VP choice out there -- helps out Obama in most important demographic he's missing, gives two young, fresh faces, and I think their message mixed together is a sure fire winner.  Then Edwards can be given charge of anti-poverty and NOLA recovery programs.

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by: philgoblue @ Thu May 15, 2008 at 21:09:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Edwards (0.00 / 0)

I agree he would help the ticket but why not try something new. Put your team together right after the convention and announce here is my cabinet or part of my cabinet. Richardson for VP, Edwards for AG, Holbrook/Biden for State, Webb for Defense, Clark for National Security etc. Then have all of them campaign. I do not recall anyone doing that.

Edwards for VP is fine if needed but we need one nasty SOB bulldog for AG. I know Edwards does not come off that way but he made millions in the courtroom so he can't be a pansy in litigation.  

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by: ppwiii @ Fri May 16, 2008 at 07:01:30 AM CDT