As luck would have it, I was in the Civic Center around the time they were having a rally for Sen. Obama’s supporters in Northern California, so I gave up my lunch break to go take some photos and videos. I think the close results in New Hampshire (that tiny state way out there) mean that we’ll at least have some semblance of a “real” campaign by Democratic candidates, instead of a boring coronation for any one “inevitable” candidate.
On hand were a lot of local politicos, including DA Kamala Harris (who co-chairs the Obama Campaign in California), Supervisors Peskin, Daly, Dufty, and Maxwell, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, School Board reps Jane Kim and Eric Mar, and well, a whole lotta people, too many to fit in one quickie post (but I’ll append it later when I have more time).
Former California Controller Steve Westly was the “MC” for the rally, and I’ve given him a hard time in the past for some of his policies and rather boring speaking style, but I have to say he did a great job and his speech was really good. You can view videos from the rally here on YouTube, and a few photos on Flickr.
Personally, I like Sen. Obama for the simple reason that he attracts a lot of enthusiastic people, and gets people involved in politics who may not have done so before. I really do not want to do a retread of the disastrous, establishment campaigns of the Kerry 2004 or Gore 2000 campaigns (Gore is awesome but his campaign in 2000 was a stinker), and I like the fact that so many local “progressives” have chosen Obama over some jackass the Greens or the Freak Show Party might have put up.
Most importantly, having him, Sen. Clinton, and Sen. Edwards battle it out and actually ask people for votes will make whoever wins the nomination a better candidate in the long run. Again, look back at how Kerry steamrolled the front-loaded primaries only to prove to be a joke candidate who managed to pull off a FAIL despite all of GW’s problems.
And, don’t forget to buy your Adama for President shirts at my store, in the hopes that Admiral Adama might still get in the race!