My evening with Elizabeth Warren
The first round of Democratic debates are over. Round two is a month away. It's time for the candidates to hit the road. They'll be taking their messages to the street. Time to see the people.
Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Bill de Blasio will be speaking at the annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition International Convention, in Chicago, this weekend. Warren is doubling down by hosting a town hall.
When you think of town halls, you picture a school gymnasium with a couple of hundred people asking questions. Liz went big time by having hers at The Auditorium Theater on the campus of Roosevelt University.
The Auditorium is a beautiful building with wonderful acoustics for all genres of music. In the last year, there have been concerts from David Byrne and Neil Young. Other legends who have performed there include Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, James Brown, The Kinks, Robert Plant, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Lou Reed and Frank Zappa. And now, Elizabeth Warren adds her name to the list. I wonder how she feels being included with Zappa? I wonder what Frank would have to say?
I've been to a few of these types of political events over the decades. I saw Jimmy Carter in Champaign, Illinois during the Spring of 1976. A few months later, he became POTUS. I saw Bill Clinton, in Chicago, during the Fall of 1996. He was re-elected POTUS. I was at the Donald Trump no-show event, at UI-C, in 2016. Sadly, a few months later....POTUS. Do you see a trend here? I'm apparently an American kingmaker. I need to be careful with this power. I need to make the choice of who to see wisely.
I've been a big fan of Elizabeth Warren since she came on the national political scene. We both attended college in Oklahoma...same state, different schools, close enough! She speaks about everything I believe in. She hits my core beliefs. I don't know if she can really pull it off, but she talks a good game. Warren also doesn't take any shit from anyone. The Pocohauntus taunts seem to roll off her with no sweat. She'll also go after members of her own party, if necessary. I respect her more than any current politician. After considering all of this, I'm off to spend the night with Elizabeth Warren. The kingmaker is going to try to go four for four.
The event info says they'll be opening the theater at 4:45. I get there at 5:00. The line circles the building...figures. At the point where I was the furthest from the entrance, I looked down the street and took this photo. You can see the Trump building in the background of this sea of people. Eerie. I wonder if it's a sign...and if so, a sign of what?
A volunteer asks me if I had signed in. I said, "huh?" They said to send a text to a certain number with my name and zip code. They'll respond with a picture of Warren's dog, Bailey. That will get me a blue dot to put on my shirt, which will let me in to the event. Hmmm....you don't think they'll use my information to text me and ask for money, do you? Liz wouldn't do that? Would she?
Suddenly, the line started to move...and it moved fast. We covered three blocks in about twenty minutes. I get to the front door and prepare for the security check. There was no security check. Nothing. Nada. Zip! I'm not sure how I feel about this. Yeah, it's nice that we can cruise right through, but these days, safety should come ahead of comfort.
Let's see if I can find a seat. The lower section is filling up quick. An usher tells people to head upstairs. I head down to the front. Rebel! Hmmm....here's an empty seat. I ask the man next to it if it's empty. He said it's all mine. The seat is ten rows from the stage and on the aisle. SCORE!!! Much better than my Trump seats...and safer...even without the security. No safe words needed tonight!
It's 6:30 and it's go-time. A guy who is a middle school teacher comes out to work up the crowd. He mentioned it's his wedding anniversary. He told his wife not to eat all of the chocolate covered strawberries. They are for both of them. I wonder how that will go over? After ten minutes, the dude can head off to eat fruit with his wife. He introduces the main act.
There isn't going to be a no-show tonight. Elizabeth Warren hits the stage!
Liz has her spiel down pat. She introduces her husband. She talks about her older brothers who were all in the military. Next comes a story about her mother getting a minimum-wage job at Sears, after her father had a heart attack. That job kept her family in their home. Warren then talks about her struggle to go to college, with little or no money and a child and how she was able to fulfill a dream to become a teacher. Law school was next, but she didn't want to be a lawyer. It was back to teaching.
Warren's personal story is truly a rags to maybe not riches, but close, story.
She then went into what we all came to hear....how Elizabeth Warren was going to rescue the United States of America from our current mess. Warren pitch included: . dealing with climate change . spreading the power around, making sure everyone has a chance to succeed, not just the super-rich . ethics in the Supreme Court and Congress . healthcare for all . no children will ever live in cages.
It's a powerful presentation. She knows what her audience wants to hear and she gives it to them. Warren had her audience on their feet and cheering for the majority of the evening.
She took a couple of questions and then it was time for the highlight of the night....selfies!
Here's where it gets a little tricky...okay, a lot tricky. They wanted everyone to line up on the left side of the stage. My seat was on the far right side. Hmmmm. I went down to the front row, where the reporters and photographers were working and walked to the left side. Pretty sneaky, but I wasn't the only one or the first one to do this. In less than ten minutes, I was on the stage. SCORE!!
Once you got to the selfie position, you had about fifteen to twenty seconds to have a chat with her. I had one thing on my mind:
HM: None of the candidates are talking about the gun problem in this country. You're going to get to that, right? EW: Yes, and soon. HM: Good. You know today is the anniversary of the murders of the journalists in Maryland. EW. I know...and he's making it worse today.
We all know who he is, don't we?
I took advantage of my fifteen seconds. I even have another photo of our chat about gun control. Yeah, I know we are wearing matching outfits. It wasn't planned. No phone calls, emails or texts were made to synch up our clothing choices.
That's the story of my evening with Elizabeth Warren. I'm hoping we'll get a chance to see what she can do. I know that she has my vote and support.
Oh yeah...one more thing...five minutes after getting home I receive and email. Here's what it said: "It's Jossie w/ Team Warren. Thanks for joining us in Chicago. Donate today & help us hit our goal before the FEC deadline on Sunday."
HA! Didn't fool me, didya. Man, using the dog to beg for money? I guess these really are desperate times in America.
Related Post: A day with the Donald
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