I shook Barack Obama’s hand today. In Mitchell, South Dakota, of all places. My mom’s friend called and offered us VIP tickets at the last minute Friday night. My mother, knowing full well my admiration for the Senator, told her we would probably use them. I saw him speak back in January with Hillary, Richardson and Kucinich in New Hampshire, but the streets of South Dakota are always an entirely different experience. So, sure enough, my mom and I pulled ourselves away from a gorgeous day at the lake today to stand on the burning asphalt outside the Corn Palace.
It was an atmosphere only rural South Dakota could offer and, walking past the security guards and into the roped off staging area, I had sudden waves of nostalgia from my South Dakota State Fair days. I seriously expected to round the corner and see a Corn Dog stand or be handed a free 4-H yard stick. And god was it hot. Armed with our green armbands, my mom and I found our way to the VIP section (waving at our former minister in the process). It turned out that we were in a standing area on the backside of the podium, in front of all the people sitting in raised bleachers for the sake of the cameras. I immediately noticed that it was not a mobile podium and realized we would spend the entire time looking at Obama’s backside.
I was slightly puzzled why Obama would do such a photo-op in front of the Corn Palace, one that, from the side, mirrors Hillary’s in front of Mount Rushmore, other than that it is sort of an historic landmark (albeit an ugly one). But George McGovern explained it all away in his introductory speech, further illustrating the strategic brilliance of the Obama campaign. George McGovern has stood at almost the very same spot he did today introducing nearly every major politician, from Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican Presidential Nominee, to JFK to RFK to even Ted Kennedy. This is a symbolic spot for Democrats, especially the great ones, and Obama had every reason to be there.
He gave his standard stump speech, the one I basically know by heart, but because he does it without notes and because he plays off the crowd, it never grows old. I never once found myself tuning out because I wondered what he’d point out next, what story he would tell or which person he’d single out in the audience.
In the end, there were two highly impressive things about this event:
1) The amount of people–nearly all supporters. Supposedly there were almost 2000 people there and almost all Democrats (the rest were Republicans who will vote the right way in November). It was exciting to know that there are actually other people out there who think on the liberal side.
2) The length of time Obama spent shaking hands. He went through almost the entire crowd (compared to his other events). I don’t know if his Secret Service detail wasn’t as worried about Mitchell or if he knew that it was the one on one contact that is most important for South Dakota voters. Or perhaps he was just in a good mood.
What’s going to happen on Tuesday now? I have no idea. Obama has the ground support but Hillary’s here more. She and Bill have been trying to bribe the head of the State Democratic Party with fundraisers if he’ll switch his superdelegate vote. She’s also hosting her watch party here in Sioux Falls Tuesday night. That means she’s expecting it to be close. Probably not close enough to net her much, but enough to put doubt in the minds of some superdelegates.
If you’re bored on Tuesday, come to South Dakota and campaign. Otherwise, watch CNN.
(Photo courtesy of my cousin Ann who was standing at the exact same place as me except on the front side of the podium.)
Update: Here’s a photo of the event now on the SD for Barack Website.
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