Wow!!! (Kerry/Edwards Rally in Harrisburg)

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The Kerry rally in Harrisburg. Incredible. This is gonna be a long one, folks. But let's start at the beginning.

I went to cardiac rehab this morning. Came home and got ready to go to the rally, but I had to stop at Margaret's studio first. She needs a font that I couldn't get to install. But I got her virus definitions up to date and headed out for the rally.

I called Chrissy. She wasn't going to be able to make it. They were short at work. Deb wanted to come down too, but they're shorthanded in her department as well. Oh well, today went so well that I'm sure John will be back again. I had to go in and pick up the ticket for the rally. You needed a ticket to get in. The tickets were red, white and blue. This is important people.

I head down to Harrisburg and park at the 2nd street parking garage. It's about 4 blocks from the Capitol. I walk down 2nd street, up to the Capitol and up the steps. I went around the corner and down the steps and, lo and behold, there's the line. And it's relatively short. It's about 4:15. Some volunteers come up and say. "This is the Blue and Red ticket line, the White ticket line is across the street". So I walk up past the entrance and down maybe a fourth of a block to the end of the White line. It's 4:20.

Lots of nice people around. Everybody is very friendly. In fact, this was kind of bizzare. It was in the 80's and very humid. People had a right to be grouchy. If you bumped into some one, it was "Excuse me, I'm sorry, etc." I was very proud to be from Central Pa. as well as being a Democrat the entire evening.

Volunteers did a great job of keeping people hydrated too. I must have been offered water at least a dozen times.

There was a news truck from ABC 27 about 50 feet further away from the entrance. Dennis Owens and Valerie Pritchart were covering the event. They kept walking by all afternoon. Owens comes up and is chatting to the volunteer standing right beside us. I notice the cameraman is set up on top of the van. It's a little after five, the line now extends to the end of the block and around the corner. People are 3 and 4 deep on the sidewalk.

Just before 5:30, Owens says "We're going to go live in one minute". The guy is literally 6 feet away from me. "I'm gonna be on TV...COOL" Then I think..."Not so cool, damn...I won't get to see it". I talked to my wife earlier and she said that we lost our local channels. DirecTV was doing a one month thing where you got the locals for free. She said that they weren't on today. Anyway, people start chanting Ker-ry, Ker-ry...and peter out in about 15 seconds. Then he says, when I start talking, we're on live!

Now, just to show that all the idiots are not in the Republican party. A guy right behind me (who's been reading "Dude, Where's My Country" out loud a lot) says..."So, when is this going to be on?" As one, everyone goes, "IT'S LIVE".

Doors we're supposed to open at 5. At 5:40 ish our line "the white line" starts to move. The red and blue line started about 15 minutes earlier. I was really surprised, we walked right in. No search, no screening. Then we get in and I realize why. We are across the street from the Capitol, about 250 feet from the street. I did have a view of the opening under the dome, another 250 feet from the street, and I figured that that's where they're going to speak from. I was wrong.

There is a very bad acoustic player/singer on stage, over enunciating away. That's when I figure out where the stage is. The news phalanx is set up across the street from the Capitol. On the other side of the street, on the street, at the base of the steps is where the stage is. I have to peer between railings to see the top of someone's head. Oh well, I get to hear the speeches and maybe get one good headshot. There was a woman about 5 people down from me who had one of those massive lenses on a monopod. I really wished I had that at that point. I had "Lens Envy". :)

Our "passionate" singer leaves the stage and says "there'll be some more good players out here soon". He should have dropped the more. There were two other bands, both uncompelling.

So, here I am, getting to know my neighbors. There was a guy behind me that sounded the only negative note I heard all day. "Cmon...we're democrats...there's gotta be some anarchy at some point". He was screwing around with the orange snow fence and managed to bust it. We were picking out the spotters and security on the roofs. I was hoping they wouldn't blow him away. They had a bunch of crew guys come over and take care of the fence.

There was a girl in front of me named Dawn (I hope that's right). She was very nice and we chatted about my "Cheers" shirt. She asked me if I went to the convention, I said I didn't. Anyway, fast forward a little. A friend of hers is walking about 75 feet in front of us, and she's yelling "Christine, Christine" (I hope that's right too). A couple of us help her yell and her friend comes up. I think nothing of it. The next thing I know she says, "Come On...You're coming with me". I'm dumbstruck. She says "Blue Ticket" and takes off.

I'm thinking COOL. While I'm thinking cool, she disappears, then I commit and take off, losing my spot. Then I'm thinking, SHIT. What if I can't find her. I do finally catch up. She got tickets for two ladies that helped her yell too. So we walk back out, against the wave of people coming in and I'm thinking, "Great, we'll just go to the security tent and get right in". WRONG. We get out and start walking down the street. And walking. And walking. The red and blue line was 3/4 of the way down the street. Dawn was a little upset. The two women that went with us we're going to leave. She went and talked them into staying. The event was supposed to start at 7. It was 7:40. As we were walking down the street we could hear cheering and speakers. A very depressing moment. We found out that they had pushed back the start time to 7:45. I tried to be optimistic. "Hey, the line will move fast, we'll be in there by ten after 8". For once I was right. We we're being searched before 8:10.

To backtrack just a hair, I saw an old friend from high school while we were in line. Actually, I saw this massive dog being walked by this woman down the street. Took a picture, then said "That looks like..." I yelled, but she walked behind a van. I asked Dawn and her finace to save my place and went after her yelling "Jeri, Jeri". We had a quick chat and I hopped back in line. Running after people and yelling is important, you'll see why later.

So, back to the story, we get in and move up. We were roughly 200 feet from the stage. There were three girls around me that work at the Capitol. I gave them the blog address and they told me later that "A lot of people will want to see these pictures".

I also saw some of the Union folks from work. They had the same spot that I did. I did pretty well for no connectivity, huh?

Then the blur started. Literally and figuratively. I couldn't get my camera adjusted for Ben Affleck's and Governor Rendell's entrance. Ben spoke briefly, then the Governor. Then he introduced Teresa Heinz Kerry. Of course the place went nuts. But this might have been a mistake. EVERYBODY came out. Kerry, Edwards and his wife as well. Rendell recovered nicely and the event continue.

Everyone spoke wonderfully. The atmosphere was electric and powerful. My first national rally and an incredible experience.

John Kerry spoke for about 45 minutes. He was articulate, self-effacing and funny. And the crowd ate it up.

At the end, they started "It's a Beautiful Day" by U2 and, on cue, fired up and lit up the beautiful fountain in the courtyard. For me, it was incredible.

So, a little after 10 it's over. My feet hurt, my back hurts, I got maybe 30 images left and I feel fantastic. So I start walking. Now, the street where we stood in the Blue line is cordoned off with a phalanx (there's that word again) of cops standing in front of motorcycles and blue "Kerry/Edwards" buses. I think, "Great...that's the shortest distance to my car and I have to go around...Wonderful". So I keep walking.

My feet REALLY hurt, and my legs. I see two women sitting down, then I start getting Wil Wheaton's mantra going in my head from the marathon he just did. "Just Keep Going, Just Keep Going". And I did. I go around the corner and head down toward the "Monolith" at the state museum. I get in the courtyard there and finally do sit down, but not really because of my feet. I need to get my cell phone out and call my niece. I had to drop some CD's off and I wanted to let her know I was still coming. This was probably the best decision I made all night.

I get up and start the plod. There's a guy in front of me talking to his friends. He says, "Ya know, I didn't really need Ben Affleck there...he didn't do a lot for me". I'm thinking, "Buddy, He wasn't there for you, he was there for the LADIES".

So I walk up to the steps that go down the street and look back up toward where I WANTED to come down the street. A few of the buses are there. I want a shot for the blog and start getting my camera out of the bag. There's a cop there who sees me getting my camera. He says...

"Hey, Ben Affleck is over there."

"Where?" I said.

"Right over there."

He points down the street, away from where I was looking and there, in the middle of the street he stands. Signing autographs.

"Well," I say..."I'm gonna go over and talk to him, because I haven't talked to him for a long time."

Now, you might expect a few (not a phalanx) beefy guys hanging around him. But this was just him, alone, talking to the crowd (of mostly teenage girls). :)

So I hover around the crowd getting pics. He starts walking away and I go Ben...Ben...BEN. I think at this point he's going to do the prick actor trick and just pretend he doesn't hear me. But, to my amazement, he turns around.

Me..."Are you guys going to do Greenlight this year?"

Him..."Yeah, we're in the middle of the third season now."

How cool is that.

I mean, he kept walking, but made eye contact and didn't totally blow me off. I was impressed.

To backtrack a bit, what also impressed me was his taking time to go over to a woman in a wheelchair to give her an autograph. But what impressed me the most was, and this was weird at the moment, that he took a long time to sign a paper for a woman. I mean, like a minute. In these situations, with a growing crowd making demands, a minute is a looong time. He didn't break concentration, but the woman he was signing for turned toward us and said "It's for my brother...in Iraq".

So I head off into the night. Past the buses. (BTW...Ben's is the really nice bus that doesn't have Kerry/Edwards written all over it) Down to 2nd street. Past the Coyote girls dressed like hookers. Showing everybody who cares to look that I took a picture of Ben Affleck.

I picked up a lemonade, got the car and headed up the street. Windows down, blasting the local X station and feeling pretty damn good about the world. I think we can do this people, I really do.

Stopped at my niece's, gave her the CD's and headed home. Then I started this.

I almost forgot. The crowd was estimated at 18 to 20,000. The news said it was the largest crowd for a political rally there that "anyone can remember". We did good.

I know this is long, but it was "A Beautiful Day".