New Generation

This morning we went to the Obama campaign centre off East Brandon Avenue: Rav stayed in the office entering canvass data on to an online database, and I headed out with an English lady named Claudette who's been in the US for about twenty years. We knocked on lots of doors but most people seemed to be at work.


Around lunchtime, Claudette and I went back to the office. I hooked up with Rav and we headed over to another Obama campaign office out west to meet Harry, who had been telephone canvassing. We then headed over to New Port Richey, where Joe Biden was speaking at a rally.

We arrived several hours early, which meant we had time to stake out the venue - Sims Park - and find a nice Cuban-American bar to eat in. Outside the park there were some ladies (left) selling Obama merchandise (yes, I'm modelling the baseball cap; no, you can't laugh).

Once the gates opened, we headed into the park to try and get a good spot. The photo on the right was taken while we were working out where was best to stand. You can see the stage set in the background.

Randomly, we bumped into a Scottish Member of the European Parliament named Catherine Stihler, who also knows some close friends of ours, and who helped with the campaign in Rav's constituency at the last General Election! Small world.

The rally opened at around 7.30pm, and a number of locals gave speeches. The style here is far more like that of a preacher than a politician - or at least, any poltician we're used to in the UK. There's also a big audience participation thing going on - 'Are we going to let the Republicans win, Florida?' 'NO - SIR!' 'And can we win here in Florida?' 'YES - WE - CAN!' That sort of thing.

I have to pause to mention that Halloween is coming up. This tradition is far bigger here than it is in the UK. This is evidenced by the festive display pictured right. (In case you can't read it, it's a pumpkin carved with the words 'Yes we can'.)

When Senator Biden came on, he spoke slowly and sincerely about the state of the USA and its people. He set out the things that an Obama-Biden administration would do: act to bring about a temporary end to mortgage foreclosures; end America's dependence on foreign oil; make the reward for national service - not just in the military but in hospitals and schools - a college education; restore America's reputation in the world; end the war in Iraq by issuing a responsible timetable for the withdrawal of US troops; and bring together red and blue America because the heart of America is purple, and 'we're all Americans'. It was stirring stuff, delivered with passion.

On the left is a picture of (hopefully, I feel obliged to add) America's next Vice President, working the crowd before boarding the bus to the next campaign stop. It must have been a long few months for him. We are beginning to know how he must feel.