Friday, August 22, 2008

entry two. it's started.

Up until now, the differences were subtle. Previously decrepit storefronts on the 16th Street Mall had been renovated. Unmarked Secret Service vehicles made rounds. There were fewer homeless on the streets. Walking out of class today,  a triple-toned tour bus emblazoned "CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN" rolled in through the campus, as if born from some political fever dream. A makeshift stage had been set up in no time flat. The bus was almost parked when a stagehand crudely attached yet another "CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN" poster on a podium. The sight felt so jarringly out-of-place and sudden, I felt a odd sense of unease.

"What's going on here?" I innocently asked a fellow student, perkily smiling and walking on her toes.

"Howard Dean!" is all she said, and like a flash, the bus doors hissed open, and there he was, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, casually stepping out to the meager sounds of a couple dozen students clapping, as if none of this was in the least bit strange.

I couldn't help but think to myself, as I stood there dumbfounded: "It's started."

After an embarrasing Freudian slip regarding Limbaugh and O'Reilly, (let's just say he mispronounced "folks") Dean shrugged and accepted his unintentionally obscene remark, and stormed through the rest of his speech. It was the typical talking points of the Democratic Party, one where there was a lot to agree with, and one that was disappointingly divisive.

The Democrats will do this, while the Republicans will continue doing that. Either or. 

Afterward, amidst a melee of national and local Press and eager college students wishing to shake his hand, I was able to shake Dean's hand, and say what I've longed to say to the entire Democratic Party the past three years.

"Please," I said, "follow through on what you're saying. For my sake."

His response was rehearsed and quick, but honest. I could tell he understood my graciousness. He admitted that they will make (and have made) some mistakes, but they are approaching it from the best possible angle for the American People. 

And that's all I wanted to hear.

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