Stone Life

Let me assure you of something, you nor I have ever been privy to the spectacle I was involved in on a random February morning in Dallas yesterday. As I mentioned in my last post (the first one in months, I know), I was able to attend the Barak Obama rally at Reunion Arena yesterday morning. The 6 pm news reported attendance to be in the range of 20K people, which makes it easily the largest political event in Dallas history.

As we drove near (within 4-5 blocks) the arena, there was a sea of people flooding from side streets and main access roads towards Reunion. For the next couple of hours people did not stop crowding the lawns and parking garages trying to gather what often amounted to only a distant glimpse of one who appears to be perhaps the most galvanizing political figure of our lifetime. Even amidst this endless ocean, complete with a series of lines wrapping around five levels of the garage and down several city blocks of reserve parking and interstate byways, people standing for literal hours not moving an inch closer to the closed doors, I heard nothing but cheers and excitement at being there. People were just happy, truly united under a common cause, even if only for that morning.

Due to a fortuitous surging of the line we were in and a lack of sufficient control of the crowd by the woefully unprepared city of Dallas, we were able to not only get into the building, which is more than I can say for everyone in line that day, but we also were able to stand mosh-pit style only 20 feet or so from the foot of the stage (my calves are still sore from standing so long). Once inside it was like a rock concert or a Mav’s game; in fact, one of the speakers prior to Obama said, “I gotta believe if we would have cheered this loud last year we might have been able to beat the Warriors!” Complete with the obligatory crowd-waves, though there were no beachballs that I saw, the raucous crowd cheered and chanted, danced to the music, and erupted in cheering at even the thought that he might emerge from the tunnel.

Former Dallas Mayor and Obama confidant Ron Kirk spoke first. I had only heard the negative about Kirk in the years since his term ended, but he was an outstanding speaker, and a worthy representative of the Democratic Party. I think I could have listened to him for another hour and would have been content (he issued the Mavericks line, now that I think about it). After him came the truly comical portion of the program. Emmitt Smith was allowed the opportunity to do what he has been doing all season on ESPN: make an ass of himself. Listen, this guy was a hell of an athlete, but, and let me be clear, HE CANNOT STRING A COHERENT SENTENCE TOGETHER!!! We began to think that this was a ploy by Obama’s people to make him sound better. Had Obama gone after Kirk we might not have been so blown away by his rhetorical skill, but after Emmitt? – he was a Rhodes Scholar in comparison. My favorite part: (Emmitt was gaining momentum and getting more confusing and flustered by the minute…and he was shouting like a very short Howard Dean) “…In the words of Dr. King… ‘I have a dream…uhm, uh.. that little boys and girls will be, uh…able to do stuff together…and, uh, mmm, that things will be great…and….” I am not sure if he trailed off or completed the thought, because I was rolling on the floor and praying to Jesus that he would keep talking. Who knew Dr. King was such a bad speaker, right?

Finally, after almost three-hours of standing that day, the crowd surged with applause and hysteria as Obama took the stage. Agree or disagree with his politics, one cannot argue with the fact that his presence is electric. For the next hour or so we hung on every word, laughed at every joke (he’s much more clever than he has been portrayed in the media), and left truly wanting to believe what he had said. His message, a mix between preacher and political mouthpiece, was unabashedly simple: Hope can prevail amidst cynicism. He did not hide from the fact that he was an idealist, that he believed in the possibility of change. Citing his critics, he outright refused to ‘grow up’, stating that such a statement implied the notion that with age comes the crushing of dreams. This resonated with me most. I am becoming these past few years more and more jaded and cynical, and to see a middle aged man hanging on to youthful vigor and dreams is something admirable.

As my new favorite website informed me yesterday evening, Barack Obama is coming to Big-D tomorrow for a speaking engagement. I have not been terribly political in recent months; in fact, the scope of my politicization has been centered on scoffing at Granpa-McCain’s good-ol’-boy false humility, Huckabee’s ultra-Christianity, Hillary’s melt-the-paint-off-your-walls nasal tones, and basically any other reason not to vote for one candidate or another. I am admittedly not the most politically savvy, but I have been strangely drawn to Obama’s charisma and energy. There is just something about a presidential candidate who sounds presidential that is appealing. I am not saying that I am ready to jump on the Obama bandwagon just yet, but I am curious enough to want to hear him speak.

As I was driving to school this morning I was musing on how to finagle my way to this event on a school day. After coming up with elaborate schemes to free me up for the few hours it would take to head to Reunion and join the mob, I did the illogical – I asked my principle. He quickly agreed with me that it would be a great opportunity to take some of the senior Government students to hear him, and so we lined up a bus and are heading that way tomorrow. I have nothing to do with the Politics department, but, probably because it was my idea, they are letting me tag along. I am really, really excited about the whole thing.

I will give you details afterward, but I thought some of you might be excited with me.