the weather could have been better. but not the company. and the dupage democrats showed that they could tackle a big festival. the candidates sure got their money's worth!
more importantly, people were enjoying themselves. it seems everyone wore their political wear, although the dominant outfit was the theme of the day: the dupage dem's spiffy new "dupage for obama" shirts.
mrs bored and i arrived just before the rally began. just as we got there, it started to rain pretty good. but the rally was inside, so no worries!
party chair bob peickert was the master of ceremony. and the first order of business was to read the first place winners of the dupage democrat's essay competition. tammy duckworth came up and gave the awards for several age categories. they were surprisingly good, well-thought out and even entertaining essays on why you should vote. we laughed. some may even have cried. but everyone seemed to be amazed at the essays the winners read.
they certainly warmed up the crowd. tammy and her husband were sent to their seats with very applause in appreciation of their service to our country. when this was done, the obligatory introduction of the candidates began. appropriately, jill morganthaler was first.
running for the 6th congressional seat, jill gave a spirited (and, yes, intense) speech on why she is running, and why roskam is wrong for dupage. then scott harper got up to speak. he told the crowd -- the barn was filled -- about the success of his 13 townships on the 13th canvass last sunday. state and local candidates followed.
by the time all the candidates had spoken, the (dark) clouds parted and the sun started shining in its full glory. some people chose to stay in the barn and listen to the band, but many adjourned to enjoy the games and fun outside. not surprisingly, the topic of politics came up -- often. some expressed excitement about the upcoming elections. others, not so much. but even for the cynics, the good company of democrats was worth the outing.
many thanks to bob, amy and all those (including our own gary) who participated to make this a great event...
