Barack and Michelle Obama came to Evansville last night, after waiting for the polls to close in Pennsylvania. They came to Roberts Stadium, a large venue that holds up to 12,000 people. Due to my son’s rescheduled baseball game and my daughter’s unknown arrival from an out-of-town track meet, I was unable to attend the rally. But I was able to catch it on TV, as the local stations were broadcasting it live. I was glad he started with a rally in Evansville, since our southwest corner of the state is often overlooked, even by our own capital.
People began lining up outside the stadium before 5 pm, although the doors weren’t going to open to the public until 7:30. For awhile after the baseball game ended, I was torn over whether or not to still try to go, since John Mellencamp was supposed to give a concert before Barack arrived. I’m not a super big fan of Mellencamp, but the media hyped his appearance with Obama, so I was temped to go see them both. As it turned out, Barack didn’t arrive until 9:30, so I was glad I stayed home.
Mellencamp’s ‘concert’ was just him performing one song live on stage, in between canned renditions of his songs being broadcast over the speakers. He struggled to play the guitar to a sluggish tempo for Small Town, then left the stage. He reappeared briefly after Barack finished speaking. To say his performance was a disappointment would be a huge understatement.
When Barack appeared, he seemed to be tired and a bit bummed over the Pennsylvania returns, which revealed a narrow win for Hillary Clinton. He congratulated her on her win, which I thought showed his character. He could have said something nasty, but didn’t, despite her attacking him with hateful campaign ads in the days before the Pennsylvania primary.
Barack’s speech was okay, but I’m sorry to admit, it wasn’t what I’d hoped for. It was the same generic message of hope and unity he’s been talking about for the whole campaign, but not specifically geared towards Indiana. He tooka few jabs at John McCain and made vague references to Hillary Clinton, but he just wasn’t fired up. He spoke for only 30 minutes, which was another letdown.
When he was finished, Michelle joined him on stage. They left the stage and shook hands with people on the floor, then went back on stage, where they shook hands and spoke with the lucky few who were sitting right behind the stage. John Mellencamp reappeared then too– I guess he didn’t want to be forgotten. Then Barack and Michelle left, shaking hands with people on their way out. Only the people on the floor and the seats right behind the stage really got to see the Obamas. The remaining 8,000-10,000 people who were there never got a chance to get very close– not like they should expect it with those numbers, but still– he didn’t stay very long and work the crowd like Hillary did after her rally. She made two laps around her stage, then met with the media and people who were in an overflow room at the high school.
On the plus side, watching the rally on TV at home wasn’t too bad. My daughter watched it with me and we got a kick out of a local reporter who stood in front of the camera with a blank look on his face, not sure if he was on air or not. He tried to summarize Obama’s speech before he was done speaking. All he had to do was turn around and see the man still standing at the podium– duh. I reveled in the thought that while everyone was fighting traffic getting out of the stadium, we turned off the TV and went to bed. Best of all, we didn’t spend 4 1/2 hours waiting to see Mellencamp and Obama make their disappointingly brief appearances.
I hope Barack returns before the Indiana primary on May 6. I’d like to see a more energized, focused speech or maybe even a town hall meeting, where participants can ask questions. I have a vote to cast and I want it to be for the right candidate.
