Be-Elected

"Yes! I will vote for Hillary on May 6th!"

I attended three events over the weekend in Indiana: Bill Clinton in Plymouth, Janet Napolitano in Mishawaka, and Hillary Clinton in South Bend. Admission was free, as you would expect.

While attending the Hillary Clinton event in South Bend, I wasn't even required to give any information, though I had to go through the metal detector and empty my pockets. It was an outdoor event, and I had already seen a bomb squad truck in the area. So going through that process seemed normal.

For the Napolitano event, the Obama people did insist I give my name, address, and e-mail address. I explained to them that I was from out-of-state, and they said it didn't matter. But I also didn't get the impression that it was mandatory.

However, for the Bill Clinton event, the criteria were something else entirely. We were in line for quite awhile when a Clinton volunteer gave us a piece of paper. We were told we could not get in without this piece of paper.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected 2008 race Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Bill Clinton Plymouth loyalty oath Bush/Cheney 2004

_{pictures courtesy of me. I took these pictures.}

Crowd waiting for Hillary Clinton in South Bend.

Indiana tasted primary democracy for the first time in 40 years last night. Going 40 years between events makes the reality taste sweeter.

Indiana is one of those states that has always been in the back of the room, raising their hand in an effort to be heard. But 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 came and went. And Indiana wasn't always the most attractive setting for Democrats. Look at the states to its north, east, and west: Michigan and Illinois went Democratic in 2004 and Ohio likely did as well. Even Kentucky went Democratic in 1996. The last time Indiana went Democratic: Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

So when nobody thinks you will do anything different but vote Republican, and the candidates have been all but picked by the time they get to you, you are the kid who gets picked last for kickball.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Indiana RFK 1968 democracy

_{pictures all taken by me from Hillary Clinton's May 4 speech in South Bend.}

I spent the weekend wandering Indiana, focusing on the Obama-Clinton matchup. -- Chad

This is for the Barack Obama supporters among our readership. The good news: your candidate is going to be the nominee for the Democratic Party for president of the United States. The bad news: Hillary Clinton has a base that your candidate needs in order to win in November.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Indiana Obama base economy Clinton base

I spent the weekend wandering Indiana, focusing on the Obama-Clinton matchup. I spoke to a lot of people about their feelings. This one in particular stuck with me. -- Chad

"If Obama gets in, it will be the demise of America."

I met Michelle after the Hillary Clinton rally in South Bend, Indiana on Sunday. She was carrying a yard sign for Hillary, and I decided to strike up a conversation.

I asked the typical question I was asking supporters of either Obama or Clinton: What was the number one reason for supporting your candidate? Michelle talked about health care and how that was important.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Indiana Muslim president John McCain

_{both pictures courtesy of me. I took these pictures.}

I spent the weekend wandering Indiana, focusing on the Obama-Clinton matchup. -- Chad

I wondered as I wandered Indiana whether I was in a time warp. No, not because the heartland is at a slower pace than the big cities. But I felt like I was going back in time to the 1990s.

I attended events for Clinton and Obama, and talked to many Hoosiers on both side of the Democratic Party fence. When I talked to Clinton supporters, asking them why they liked the senator from New York, they eagerly spoke of going back to the 1990s. "Things were great in the '90s" was a popular saying this past weekend. When I talked to Obama supporters, asking them why they liked the senator from Illinois, they spoke of the future.

Bill Clinton spoke in Plymouth, Indiana on Saturday about bringing back tax rates from the 1990s on the wealthy. One of the buttons I saw asked, "Do you Miss Clinton? Vote for Mrs. Clinton '08."

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, a fervent supporter of Obama, spoke in Mishawaka, Indiana on Sunday about how you reinvent the economy and reform education for the workforce of the future. Napolitano also spoke at the end about finding the best candidate to move the country forward in a new direction.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Bill Clinton Janet Napolitano future 1990s

_{picture courtesy of me. I took this picture.}

I spent the weekend wandering Indiana, focusing on the Obama-Clinton matchup. There were many good stories from the Hoosier state. This is one of them. -- Chad

It was a nice spring day in South Bend, Indiana. Sunny and warm can be the ticket to spending the day doing a number of activities. But Jesse Cao was standing outside in downtown South Bend all day in an eagle costume holding an Obama sign. All day.

I drove by about 4-5 times, seeing him out there. Finally, I had to ask what his reason for standing out there.

Cao told me his son, a 1st Lieutenant, died in Iraq 3 years ago. And he was out there to work to being his friends home from the war. He said we should focus on Afghanistan.

Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Iraq bring the troops home eagle protest

When choosing between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, we keep hearing "electability" and voters should pick "who can beat John McCain." And this isn't from some random blog; this is from DNC Chair Howard Dean:

"I think the race is going to come down to the perception in the last six or eight races of who the best opponent for McCain will be. I do not think in the long run it will come down to the popular vote or anything else."

This is the shallow thinking that gets Democrats in trouble. Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Howard Dean electability