Earl, Kent, Byron, George, Barack, and Hillary
To start this blog, I would like to share my incredible hatred for computers. A different version of the blog that you are about to read has already been written. It was really awesomely good, and then, the computer I was writing it on decided to crash, and the blog was gone forever. This blog is in memory of all the blogs that have fallen to computer failure, we will never forget thee.
Last weekend I had one of the coolest experiences of my young life. I was able to see, with my own eyes, who I believe will be the next president of the United States. You guessed it, John McCain wasn’t there. The event was the Democratic NPL of North Dakota convention, (NPL stands for Non-Partisan League, which I think is a dumb name because the “Democratic” out in front contradicts the “Non-Partisan” ending, but oh well). The convention was in Grand Forks which is about an hour north of Moorhead. There is no way I would have driven all the way up there had it not been for the two very distinguished guests that were speaking there that night. The first was the junior Senator from Illinois and the second, the junior Senator from New York.
Barack Obama, (he’s the junior Senator from Illinois), spoke first at five thirty, so we left here at 2:30, which we thought would be plenty of time. When we arrived at 3:30ish we soon realized that we were wrong. The line zig-zaged the length of the Alerus center three times, and when we saw how slow the line was moving we soon realized that we might not make it in on time. Well, after some creative line swapping, (and I didn’t even budge), we got in with twenty minutes to spare.
North Dakota Congressman Earl Pomeroy spoke first, then Senator Kent Conrad, and finally senior senator Byron Dorgan (all of whom endorsed Obama). When Obama finally came out, Byron gave him a hockey stick, (which Obama wielded like a baseball bat), and then he gave what might be the best speech I have ever witnessed. In forty-five minutes the man never tripped over his words, and he delivered it with power and expression. Until that moment, I didn’t know what the pundits were talking about when they said he was such a powerful speaker, and I’m not even an Obama supporter, but now I know.
Hillary Clinton was set to speak at 7:15, but because of delays, she wasn’t able to speak till 8:30. Before she came out, former governor of North Dakota, George Sinner, came out to endorse Hillary. He did something that actually kind of appalled me, both as a Clinton supporter and as a Feminist. The main idea behind his speech was that Hillary was a strong womyn, which I agree with, but then he took it a step too far in talking about the gender discrimination in this country and how electing a womyn would really help curb that. Now I have no problem talking about gender, as a womyn’s studies minor, I actually enjoy talking about gender issues and how we can try to fix them, but there is a time and a place to do that, I just don’t think Hillary Clinton’s campaign is the place to do so. Whether Mr. Sinner admits it or not, the idea of a womyn president turns some people off, and talking about how electing her for that reason could turn even more people off.
Anyway, when Hillary took the stage Byron gave her a hockey stick as well, which she held closer to correct, and she gave a typical “stump speech”. She stuck more to the issues than to the joking and showmanship that Obama used, which has been the way her campaign has been since the beginning. On the whole, her speech was very good, probably informed many people about her campaign, and maybe even took a few delegates to Denver with her come August. Nevertheless, it was quite an eventful evening in Grand Forks, and I was glad I went.