Over 1,000 people packed the McAninch Arts Center auditorium at College of DuPage (COD) to rally for national candidates John Kerry/John Edwards, Barack Obama, Gloria Anderson, Christine Cegelis and Ruben Zamora, as well as the state and local candidates.
Gayl Ferraro, chair of the DuPage Democratic Party was master of ceremonies. Rockford Mayor Doug Scott represented the Kerry ticket and gave a rousing speech to a receptive crowd looking for “a fresh start.” On a personal note, I think I may have gone to a NIU graduate class at COD with Scott’s wife - a graduate class on nonprofit management. Scott, if you’re reading this, say “hi” for me.
All three congressional candidates gave brief speeches. Gloria was very gracious in using some of her time to plug my advocacy of mass transit. She started and ended her speech with the refrain that if you want to change the legislation, you have to change the legislators. It was one of the best speeches I’ve heard Gloria make - the time she’s putting in is paying off. Christine paid homage to Howard Dean, noting that she was a Dean Dozen member, and that looking out on those assembled, she knew that we “had the power.” She also made oblique reference to the ballot controversy and the crowd really responded. Ruben gave an impassioned speech that emphasized the need for national (ultimately universal) healthcare and better-funded education. Ruben offered the story of his mother, who would take her $400 worth of medication only when she felt bad, and would skip it otherwise, since her Social Security was $400 as well. She suffered multiple heart attacks (and a stroke I think he said) because of her on again, off again taking of the medication - something that wouldn’t be necessary if medicines were more affordable.
Don Harmon, one of Barack’s fellow state senators, and a DuPage Democrat with a district that covers Cook too (he’s out of Oak Park I believe) introduced Barack with a glowing introduction based on the theme that everybody approaches him in hushed tones now and asks him about Barack, a fellow state senator he’s worked for years with in Springfield. He always ends by saying Barack is even better than they think he is from TV or even his Democratic National Convention speech.
The crowd went wild for Obama, and he was kind in plugging DuPage, saying among other things that his message was crafted so that no matter where in Illinois he went, upstate or down, city or suburbs, most people could unite behind the message that government can’t do everything, but it can do some things and should be there for “bumps in the road” that people encounter in life. He urged people to get others to the polls, recognizing that if they were at the rally, they were a given to vote. He made reference to going to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama where four young girls lost their lives in a bombing motivated by racial hatred. He described going to the church and sitting in a pew weeping as he thought what it would be like for him to have lost his daughters to such violence. He offered the bombing and the Civil Rights movement as examples of the sacrifice Americans have made to be free and enjoy the rights we take for granted. He offered Nazi Germany and Cambodia as examples of people struggling to get to a better place, and coming to America. Compared to these struggles, what we are asked to do in voting is so little, he pointed out.
Obama received an award from the Illinois Veterans for Kerry group, which was well represented in the audience. Dirk Enger presented the award. A Vietnam veteran who is on the state Vets for Kerry committee spoke eloquently for Kerry as well, emphasizing the commitment we need to make to our veterans in VA services among other areas.
DuPage Kids for Kerry, including the group leader, were both on stage and in the audience. You have to admire their involvement.
I met a number of future constituents, including a dozen or so from Aurora. Overall it was a great, energizing and productive evening. Thank you to all who organized it and all those who attended. Now let’s get people to the polls!
Post a Comment