Obama Hal and Mal's Party

Around 8:00 tonight, after viewing the results from my couch for an hour, I wandered down to Hal and Mal's to the Obama results viewing party. There I ran into a lot of familiar faces from the week. Mike Meehan and Aaron (I am sorry I forget your last name), YOU GUYS ROCK. The joint was hopping with a large crowd filled with enthusiasm.

Former Governor Ray Mabus was in attendance. Mississippi state Senator Kenneth Jones from District 21, right her north of Jackson was also on hand. Senator Jones was one of the two men on stage with Senator Clinton in Canton for the JJH. He laughingly told me that he had been catching hell from his family, friends and constituency for his apparent backing of Senator Clinton. He was on stage for the Senator Clinton event due to his position as the Senator for Canton. We shared a good laugh about it.

I met a middle-aged black gentlemen from New Mexico name Jeffrey who used to be a college professor. He shared my pro-education views. He explained to me how the GOP had developed a stronghold in New Mexico, and how New Mexico's education rank had slipped into our league. He agreed with me that the GOP finds strength where poverty levels are high and education levels low. An uneducated electorate is vulnerable to the low-brow politics and deceit of the GOP.

I met a middle-aged white lady down from New Jersey. She just loved the culture and feel of Mississippi. We watched the returns for a while and I bored her to death with my delegate numbers breakdown. Somebody had to hear it, unfortunately for her. She was a good sport about it, but dissapeared like the wind, when I went to field a phone call.

I ran into a co-worker who is also a big Obama supporter. We joined together to cheer for the cameras when the live news broadcasts were run. I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, and managed to share my ugly mug with the greater Jackson viewing area for the second time this week.

There was a black lady there who was passing out cards to garner support for a voter registration drive. She shared with me her disappointment with the 50% AA turnout, when they make up 65-70% of registered Democratic voters. I agree, but I mainly want tot see the overall total raised, and as of right now we had 400,000 show. I believe that is a record, but I can't find my numbers to verify. I will be in touch with her to see what she has going.

The crowd was a complete mixed bag of young, old, white, black, local, rural, and campaign workers from all over the US. Most of the campaign workers I met were enjoying the spirits, unwinding from an intense, sleep deprived run. Aaron was heading to North Carolina to start it over again, with the NC primary on May 5. Mike was heading home.

Tonight was a nice conclusion to the greatest week a Mississippi Democrat could have, especially if he is supporting Obama. I bought a great T-Shirt that on the back featured a "guilty" looking Chelsea Clinton and in large print, "Don't tell Mama, I voted for Obama".