Is this New Hampshire?
Tags:I think I am finally getting just a glimpse into what it would be like to live in New Hampshire or Iowa during the primary season in presidential election years.
Being in Oregon we rarely get much attention from presidential candidates in the primary. Our primary is coming up on May 20th (the only other ones left after us are Republican primaries in Idaho & New Mexico, a Democratic primary in Montana, and both parties primaries in South Dakota and Puerto Rico): the airwaves are congested in with political ads, the phone is ringing with pollsters on the other end of the line, and the candidates are actually visiting cities all across the state (and not just stopping in Portland).
Senator Obama was here in Eugene on Friday night speaking to a crowd of about 8000 at the University of Oregon. I just heard on the radio that he will be back to Oregon again this weekend. Senator McCain is here today. Senator Clinton was in Central Point on Thursday and in Portland at OHSU on Friday. President Clinton was in Pendleton last night and is traveling all over the state today promoting a "Bring Your Ballot" events (Oregon is the only state with a complete vote-by-mail system.). We are still hoping for the chance to see Senator Clinton here in town.
For our little family who is interested in the political process, government, public service, current events, history, etc, this is really quite exciting.
Before Senator Obama spoke on Friday night we had a chance to go behind the scenes with a small group and welcome him to Eugene.
Chris got his book signed.
Simon got to shake hands.
I got a blurred shot to go along with my collection of blurred favorites.
And Simon's favorite part of the night was acquiring this flag that he was able to wave like crazy (thanks Emily). He was super serious about his job as a flag waver and made sure that we were all cheering at the appropriate times.
It's a pretty amazing time in the history of our country.
On another note, I hope you all had a fantastic Mother's Day. We got to have lunch with my parents on the coast and dinner with Chris' here in town. We are pretty darn lucky: both our Mother's still love us and listen to us talk politics even though we are on opposite ends of the political spectrum (they definitely don't sit quietly though - lots of lively, interesting discussions).
Love you Mom!









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149 comments
Both my kids (7 and 11) have been super involved in the political process this primary season. We tried to get to a couple of rallies here in Austin, TX, when Obama was here, but they were just HUGE events. My hubby, for the first time ever (he's 43) was a precinct captain for the Dem party and got to be a delegate at the county convention. We also got to take the kids to Obama headquarters here in Austin the day they opened their doors. It is so important for kids to have a sense and understanding of the political process in this great nation of ours!
I will admit I'm a little jealous...
Thanks for sharing, Ali!
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Wow...what a great memory!!! Amazing to witness history live!!!!
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I'm so jealous! I am *praying* that Obama wins. He is such an inspiring man!
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I can relate to your comments about being in a traditionally 'ignored' state. I live on the border between ND and MN and about a month ago, both Senators Obama and Clinton came to an arena for events attended by about 18,000 people! It was so exciting...
I teach public speaking, so I'm interested in Senator Obama from that angle, too.
Didn't get my book signed, though, even though we did go to a small reception...I'm jealous!
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Awesome, Ali, just awesome! So exciting that you all got to have some face to face time with Senator Obama.
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very exciting, indeed. I lived in keene, NH in '95 when the candidates came through campaigning for the '96 election. It was exciting to meet candidates up close, but I have to say ... the crowds I witnessed did not seem as large or excited as your photos reveal. This is a super-charged situation right now.
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How cool is this!?! It is exciting for Oregon to be so involved still. Bill Clinton is visiting our town tonight, his daughter was here a couple of weeks ago---still waiting for Hillary tho! Happily Senator Obama swung by on his way to Eugene a couple of weeks ago---I have the story on my blog: http://phinearts.blogspot.com/2008/03/guess-who-we-saw.html Was so exciting to see him in such an informal way! Your experience "wins" tho---congrats on having such a terrific up close and personal visit! Fabulous photos---even the blurry one!!
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Bill Clinton went to Pendleton. Pendleton is NOT Central Oregon. It's Eastern Oregon. just so you know...
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what an incredible experience for all of you! love these photos ali!
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Sounds like you had a great Mother's Day! :) I won't be voting for Obama or Clinton, but I bet it's exciting to see them anyway.
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I feel the same way! I'm over in Central Oregon (Redmond) and we've had Clinton twice, Obama once and Hillary is coming this week. It's kind of crazy.
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I won't be voting either( being Canadian and all!) but my HOPE is with Barack...Ali, it is such an amazing ride this political forum, I wish I understood your politics better...Happy is the day when we can all agree to disagree and still love each other!So glad you are living in the moment!!!
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Hi Ali. That was so exciting. I would love to hear Obama speak let alone have a picture taken with him - blurry or not. I love Obama's expression when he's talking to Simon. Just too cute.
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OMG you are so lucky! I wish I would have gone to see him when he was here in Boston (seems so long ago). Great photos! How does it feel to have photos with our next President?!!!!
Not sure if you knew this already but Obama will officially accept the nomination of the Democratic Party on Aug. 28th....which happens to be the 45th anniversary of MLK, Jr's "I Have A Dream" Speech. How beautiful! Talk about cosmic synergy.
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This is such a great post! Thanks for sharing. We are watching your country make this decision with great anticipation.
Michelle
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Wonderful photos and I would hate that the one with you and Obama was blurry but at least you have one. I am not an Obama supporter but I believe in the political system and love to see everyone out and about. It really is a great time for our country. I am headed out to Portland in July for a family vacation. (and then on down the coast) Any suggestions?
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How neat that Simon is getting to experience the political process from such a young age! Very cool pictures! It must have been amazing to meet Senator Obama! I've been so moved by this year's elections that I've even been scrapping about them. Really a very exciting time in our history for sure. Your dinner table talk on politics sounds like ours at my parents house. I love it though, when you get to hear arguments on both sides it makes it easier to form your own opinion! I'll be watching CNN the night of the 20th for sure!
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Our son and family live in Des Moines and had a blast during the caucus and its runup. Our older grandson (just turned 8) loves studying the Presidents and got B.O. to autograph his Presidential history book. Then he was front and center at the caucus crunching numbers to see if each candidate had the required percentage to continue to the next level. His brother, alas, contributed not at all. He fell asleep under one of the tables.
It's great to see the young ones getting turned on by democracy.
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I felt the same way when the primaries were here in Pennsylvania. It was cool to feel like we counted for a change! I'm reading Obama's book right now, and while I was impressed with him before, I am now totally blown away by him. Everyone should read it.
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I *heart* Obama!!
At least you got a shot of you with him!! Blurred = better than no shot!!!
: )
Wilna
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