Have you ever attended a live speech by a sitting president? No matter what your politics, you’ll never forget the experience. I’ve seen a few political candidates speak at various events, but yesterday’s town hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin was so much more…well…presidential!
We parked about five blocks away, so we wouldn’t get stuck in a traffic jam. Thirteen hundred people had free tickets for the meeting, held at Memorial Hall in Racine. There were vendors selling political paraphernalia, volunteers escorting those who needed assistance, refreshment carts, lots of television news cameras, and police sharpshooters on the roof. It was, I must admit, rather exciting.
Our tickets were to the right of the stage, in the “cut shot” section, meaning that when the cameras focused on the audience, we were likely to be filmed. The hall filled up, and a few minutes before President Obama entered, Governor Doyle and Milwaukee’s Mayor Barrett (who, by the way, is running for governor) took their seats.
At the last minute, a handful of photographers was allowed onto the floor directly in front of the podium. They all pointed their cameras at a curtain just right of the stage, directly in front of our seats! Finally, a presidential aide strode purposefully onto the stage and attached the presidential seal onto the podium–which actually gave me goosebumps–and then President Obama entered, shaking hands all around.
Here’s a link to the entire event:
I can’t possibly cover everything that was in the speech, but here are some of the issues addressed: the ongoing legislation battle about new financial regulations, whether or not the stimulus package was successful, efforts to further our economic recovery, and assistance for college students. In his opening remarks, Obama made no bones about calling out his “friends on the other side of the aisle” for both contributing to the financial meltdown, and holding up efforts to tighten regulations so that it doesn’t happen again. Hmmm, must be coming up on election year…
In any case, whether you’re Republican, Democrat or independent, it’s true that you can move a lot closer to being involved with what’s happening in our world by simply listening to our leaders. It’s a good first step to knowing what the issues are; then it’s up to you to do further research and decide where you stand.
Wisconsin and Beyond 