Quotation Mark Monday: Important Presidents

Mark: Dad, there are only four important presidents.
Matt: Really?
Mark: Yeah, dad. One of them is Washington. One is Barack Obama.
Matt: Oh, who are the others?
Mark: You don't know? You tell me.
Matt: Abraham Lincoln.
Mark: He is important.
Matt: Woodrow Wilson.
Mark: He's not important.
Matt: Franklin Roosevelt?
Mark: He's not important.
Matt: Teddy Roosevelt?
Mark: He's not important.
Matt: Thomas Jefferson?
Mark: He's not important.
Matt: I don't know who it is.
Mark: You forgooooot James K. Polk.

Obamarama

Last weekend, Matt was trying to straighten up some stuff around Lynne'....er...the house when he came across an envelope he'd completely forgotten about, surprisingly enough.
You'd think with all the Obamaness going on recently, Matt might have remembered that he got a "personal" letter from #44, but somehow it slipped his mind.
Here's the letter:

(You should be able to click on it to enlarge it.)

And it came with this:

Now, it should be noted that Matt never wrote to Mr. Obama asking for his autograph. (Though Matt is on record saying the only person he'd for sure ask for an autograph from, is The President. But, hopefully, not in the middle of the interview that Obama will inevitably grant to Matt.)

Actually, when the letter came in the mail, Matt was sure that someone was pulling his leg or messing around. If they were, they did a great job because they never fessed up. More likely, someone on the Senator's staff saw something Matt wrote in the paper and sent along a letter, which happens more often than seems necessary.

Either way, Matt got a signed picture from the next president of the United States, which he can add to the note that Bill Clinton signed congratulating Matt on becoming an Eagle Scout, and Al Gore's Christmas card.

Matt's 99.99 percent sure that Obama's signature is pre-printed on the picture. But, either way, pretty cool.

Maybe it should replace Carlton Fisk's picture on Matt's desk. Nah.

Some more Obama

Matt wrote a little in this weekend's Beacon about Obama's appearances in the Fox Valley. The formatting is a little strange online and you'll notice some familiar phrases, but it's still an interesting read. It wasn't so long ago that Obama was saying he wasn't going to run for President. (He did.)

What's more fun is the photo gallery the Beacon ran of all the pictures taken by staffers of the pre-President. Obama always seems rather relaxed, but if you want to know how tough the campaign trail is check out how young he looks just four years ago. Check it out here.

Also, one of Matt's friends wrote a fascinating column - from Africa - about the reaction to Obama's election on the other side of the world. A great read.

I was (sort of) there

Yes, he did.
In the spirit of just going for it, Matt took a ride down to Grant Park to be part of the Obama Election Night rally. (Not a victory celebration, you understand, just a rally.)
Matt did not have a ticket and could not swing a press pass. (He knew he was in trouble when he had to choose between 'national' and 'international' press. Hmmmm...) So, instead he decided to meet up with his high school friend Mary Beth who had promised to cry if (when) Obama won.
About a week before, Matt found out that he had been assigned to work the day shift for the elections. While this was a bummer (Election Day is the one night when it actually feels like the newspaper you see in the movies - people yelling and throwing things, scrambling around), Matt decided to make the most of it by heading for the rally.
A few times, Matt nearly talked himself out of heading for downtown because conflicting messages kept going out: the Democratic Party discouraging people from showing up, saying you could be turned away. At the same time, Mayor Daley was telling everyone to show up. (Olympic tryout?) After working a rather uneventful morning, Matt caught the 4:25 p.m. train heading for Chicago, where he could hike it to Grant Park.
While the train was far from full, most of the people were heading for the rally. (You could tell by their 'Socialism forever' shirts.)
When Matt arrived downtown, there were vendors on all the corners selling Obama fans, Obama shirts (as Superman, as the President, as a painting, as a glitter man), Obama posters, Obama everything. There were also tons of cops. For the first time, Matt started to understand the gravity of this moment.

Throughout Obama's meteoric rise, Matt felt a real connection to a Presidential candidate. Not necessarily philosophically - Matt voted for someone else (cough, Nader, cough) - but as a person.

Of course, Obama's speaking style is easygoing and clear and, as evidenced by everywhere he went. He connects with people. But also, twice while working for the Beacon, Matt covered events Obama spoke at. Matt was close enough to reach out and touch the guy. And because Matt is closer in age to Obama than he'd ever been to a presidential candidate. And since Obama's also "from" Illinois, it's easy for Matt to see Obama as a man, not an unapproachable figure. He was a really smart guy running for president, not some myth.

But by Tuesday, he had become a Legend - the guy wearing the cape underneath his suit - a figure that was going to change the face of America, if only by being elected. On the walk to Grant Park, Matt still wasn't sure how this night would turn out: would Obama win? and what would be the reaction if he didn't? or, what would be the reaction if he did?

Everyone was let in to the rally on the Jackson Street bridge, which was split into ticket holders who would be in the same vicinity as Obama and the ticketless stragglers who were blocks away from the action.

Matt tried one more time to get in on a press pass - no luck (where's the respect for the award winning Beacon News?) - so he headed back and met up with Mary Beth and her Marxist friends.
Inside, it was an odd environment. Fascinating, amazing, but also odd. It was essentially thousands of people standing on the grass, watching TV. They had set up three or four giant screen TVs with loud speakers where people were watching the returns on CNN.
Matt's seen some reports saying there were 150,000 people there. Matt's speciality is not estimating crowd numbers but that seems low. Having been at football games attended by 70,000 people, there had to be a lot more than twice as many people there.
Still, it never felt overly crowded - it was about the equivalent of when the marathon is downtown, in relatively the same space. Part of that was the humongous Park, but Matt believes people were discouraged by warnings of how crazy it would be.
For hours, everyone watched as returns came in from different states, cheering wildly when Obama won any state and booing lightly when McCain was projected as the winner. Everyone waited and waited, eating Connie's Pizza and milling around watching for Obama to hit 270, that magic number of electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
It should be noted that not only was everyone basically friendly, they were also extremely optimistic. It crossed Matt's mind that he could be heading for a dirge if McCain won. (Others were not worried. A woman on the train said, "There's like this big Obama rally downtown. If he wins, there will be celebrating. If he loses, there will, like, be rioting. So, either way it will be fun.") But at the rally, no one was talking about 'if Obama loses'. It was assumed he would coast. It was just a matter of when the number would pop up.
By the way, Matt and all the other non-ticketed entrants were nowhere close to The Man. The non-ticketers were blocks away from the main stage, separated and actually facing the wrong way, as if our backs were to Obama. So while Matt was there...it's not like he was rubbing elbows with Spike Lee. Still, there was some magic everywhere in the park.
The crowd was savvy - they knew which states were "in play" and which Senate seats they had to win. It was about 9 p.m. when Obama was at 206 electoral votes. CNN had a countdown to the West Coast polls closing and everyone knew that California's 55 votes would put him very close. The crowd counted down, "Five, four, three, two, one."

And then everyone was waiting for the states to pop up. Sure, California was going to be there. But would they be able to project Oregon, Nevada?

Instead, unexpectedly, the TV screen suddenly said "Obama wins presidency."
It was shocking, unbelievable.
Matt stood there, waiting for them to pull it back down. Replays of 2000 were running through Matt's mind. Surely, this was too early, too easy. But it stayed there.

Matt liked Obama, but somehow he thought something would stop him from being president. It just couldn't happen. Just the idea that a black man, a young man, a progressive and hopeful man would actually win seemed improbable. A president who didn't reference Vietnam or World War II? A president who didn't govern on fear? An inexperienced, fresh voice?
Yep.
After CNN put up the Big Announcement, everyone immediately began speculating on when Obama might come out to speak. Would it be tonight? Was he as confident as CNN? Was this actually going to happen?

Then, suddenly, McCain was walking out to the podium. He didn't look joyous. The surreal was becoming very real. The crowd reverently watched McCain's speech, cheering as a worthy adversary. There was no booing, no cat calls. (The only boos were for Sarah Palin.) And when he finished his beautiful speech, it suddenly occurred to Matt that he really would be there for history. It was unfolding right now.

It was only a matter of time before The Man of the hour showed up.

In the downtime, one guy in the crowd was very excited and tried to get the crowd chanting "Good-bye Bush, Good-bye War." He was very loud and a few people half-heartedly joined in for a few minutes. But there was sense, Matt thinks, that this was unnecessary, improper. This was a time for celebration and reflection, not more of the same old attacks.

Finally, around 10 p.m. an unnamed woman sang a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. A little while later, the motorcade was shown arriving. And then, the TV screens cut to a live fed of the podium.

Obama was here.

"Hello, Chicago.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."
The crowd did not go wild. Everyone stood silently, nearly reverently. Sure, they cheered in parts. But it was almost as if they were at a great movie and couldn't believe what they were seeing. It's like you when you're watching a hilarious comedy, but you don't want to laugh too hard and miss the next line. Each line had to be soaked up, tasted for texture and savored before swallowing.

The speech, which most of you probably saw, was for the most part fantastic. Once Obama got past the campaign thank yous ("the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America" - geez) the speech was magnificent. When he talked about leaving the world a better place for his children...when he talked about the ideals of Lincoln and the Republican party...when he talked about earning doubter's votes. There was no talk of mandates. Just humility and hope. For all his skepticism, Matt couldn't help but feel buoyed.
And so Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. So when Matt was covering the rallies in DeKalb or Aurora, did he ask the future President a question? Did he grill him on an issue important to Aurora residents? Did he explore Obama's personal and political beliefs?
Nope. Not even one.
Oh well, maybe by 2012, when Nader's finally elected.