On Saturday my wife, her friend Stephanie and I drove to Detroit to attend an outdoor rally with vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. We got there a half hour before the gates opened and once inside waited an hour and ten minutes for it to start. There were several reasons for the long delay - there were people who had, I guess, made campaign contributions who were roped off into their own area. Then a number of them were escorted out into the parking lot and line up double-file, presumably to be the first to greet the candidate. But this idea was abandoned and the rows of supporters were led up onto the stand. So we were staring at them, and they were staring back at us, and nothing was happening. Once in awhile someone on the stand would smile weakly and wave at the crowd, only to be ignored.
Allisyn and Stephanie were really excited to be there - both were excited to find out whether "(Edwards) really is as handsome as he looks on TV." My wife had gotten up in the middle of the night and written Edwards a letter about our troubles balancing our income so that we can pay for her heart medications, something that is impossible to do the way things are. I warned her, "Don't get your hopes up - chances are you won't get anywhere near John Edwards with that letter."
I stood with my camera, mostly taking unposed shots of weird looking people - the photographers I admire most are folks like Weegee, Brassai, Andre Kertesz and Robert Frank, and at political rallies there is always the opportunity to get those kinds of shots. At one point I noted my wife and Steph had disappered - they'd hopped into the roped off area when the others were led out of it. By the time I realized that, the rally was beginning and the crush of the crowd prevented me from going any further into it.
A man stepped out whom I didn't know - a local leader, who introduced another gentleman who'd been one of the "Freedom Riders" 40 years ago. Then a congresswoman gave a speech in which she said the other democratic congress-people had wanted to come back for this rally, but Washington wouldn't let them go - they are too busy voting on "petty stuff." Then someone I recognized came on - state governor Jennifer Granholm, tinier than I thought her, dancing and miming karaoke style to the background music. It impressed me - I hadn't been too comfortable with her icy cold TV appearances, but Granholm seemed like a natural ham at the rally which, as a ham myself, I guess I can relate to.
Granholm brought on the main event - Senator John Edwards. The crowd just went nuts. He IS a handsome devil too - you'd never guess he's 51 years of age. But that didn't matter as much to me as the sense he made in his speech. He opened it with a joke, and then went into an evaluation of what the recent round of debates meant, and expressed the wish that Dick Cheney hadn't forgotten their conversation this last time (!) He then made the expected pitch for John Kerry, and provided plenty of leverage for the crowd to ramp up its collective anger at George Bush. "The Bush Admininistration keep trying to put lipstick on this pig," he said, "but at the end of the day it's still a pig." The crowd loved it.
At one point Edwards was interrupted by about four Nader supporters who started chanting. Edwards said "Fellows, I' m glad you're here, you're welcome, but please don't interrupt me." The Nader supporters collected a fair number of dirty looks, shut up, and presumably left - they weren't carried out on a stretcher like those folks at the Republican convention. Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick showed up towards the very end of the rally, looking like he just rolled out of bed - wearing an expensive dress shirt with the tail hanging out and gray sweat pants. He looks big on TV, Kwame is a BIG, BIG man - tall as a house and nearly as wide as one. Standing with his back to the sun, way taller than anyone else on the stand, he looked like a black Paul Bunyan, only not as well dressed.
After speaking for about 37 minutes, Edwards began to wave and smile at the crowd, and then after greeting the people on the podium, was gone, one his way to another rally in Royal Oak. I was one of the first ones out, as I really needed to hit the port-a-potty. When I came out, Allisyn and Steph were giggling and slapping each other on the back like teen-age girls, carrying giant signs reading WOMEN FOR KERRY that were wobbling in the wind. They had worked their way through the line of supporters and were the last to shake hands with Edwards. He really is, it appears, as handsome in person as on TV, and he DID take my wife's letter. Shut me up.
On TV news later they didn't show any of the morning rally with it's wild, enthusiastic crowd - they showed a bit from the Royal Oak rally which was inside and apparently a considerably more subdued affair. Of his speech, they only showed the opening joke - "George Bush asked a very important question in the debate last night. Did you hear it? He asked, ' Is my time up yet?'" It killed 'em in Detroit, but went flat in Royal Oak. However, that's what was on the evening news - you are welcome to make up your own mind about it.
Uncle Dave Lewis