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July 15, 2004
Making Carolina Blue
Went to the big Kerry/Edwards rally at NCSU last Saturday....it was extremely hot and really crowded, but definitely worth the trip. I took a bunch of photos and uploaded them here. Our 3pm-ish arrival helped us miss much of the heat and also "special musical guest" Hobex. What, no Hootie?!!? Actually, the Edwards music selectors still seem to like playing the Blowfish's "Hold My Hand" at rallies....oh well, not even Johnny Sunshine is perfect, I guess. But I digress. This N&O story about the rally is kind of light on quotes but it does mention the notable "How about 16?" line that Kerry used in reference to Edwards' potential 16-year VP/President career. Warming up the crowd for the big dawgs were some of NC's Democratic Congressmen (Price, Watt, Etheridge), Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, and Carrboro alderman/token Latino representative John Herrera, a fiery speaker and quite possibly one of the few Carrboro town officials that I've never seen in a bar. The one and only Dean Smith was on the V.I.P. riser, standing next to U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles. I know Dean Smith is really reserved and publicity-shy, but it would be very cool to see him actively campaign for his beloved Democrats this fall. Though if former UNC basketball player (and one-time Larry Brown roommate!) Richard Vinroot somehow wins the Republican nomination for governor again, I guess loyal Dean will be splitting his ticket. Sure, talking about celebrity sports figure endorsements is pretty silly, but not quite as silly as potential celebrity sports figure candidates that haven't gone the more serious and legitimate Bill Bradley/J.C. Watts route. Maybe Ditka wised up and realized that rising star Barack Obama was going to Super Bowl Shuffle him in a landslide. Regardless, I'm really looking forward to seeing Obama deliver the keynote address on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
On the way back from the rally, Fred and I talked awhile about what sorts of things we could do to help NC go for Kerry. I almost feel like at this stage in the game, most everyone I know is already committed to voting against Bush and that any preaching I do is pointlessly directed at the choir. And last December's Howard Dean fiesta was strangely fun but I don't really feel like having another fundraising house party. So if you're so inclined, please donate some cash to Kerry/Edwards via my new online volunteer/fundraiser page and we'll agree to keep our partying relatively free of external agendas.
After all, the best way to help make N. Carolina blue is probably just to get more and more people registered to vote, especially the thousands of new UNC students that will be arriving in Chapel Hill in a little over a month. I thought it was awesome that Sean from CD Alley had a big huge stack of voter registration forms by his cash register last week....he told me he'd been asking customers if they were registered, whether their address had been updated, etc. It's really not a hard question to ask, and many people simply forget or just don't realize that you have to re-register whenever you move. In North Carolina, the registration deadline for the November election is Friday, October 8th. Are you registered? What about your friends? The last five people that you talked to? I can't vouch for how this online Rock the Vote registration form works, but if you're unregistered and don't have a paper form at your disposal, give it a shot. Rock The Vote also has some sort of kit that allows you to have your own voter registration drive. Hmmm, who wants to help me out with a small drive here in the Triangle?
Posted by Tim at July 15, 2004 01:40 AM
Comments
I went to the rally too. It was hot and I couldn't see a thing. But it was fun.
Posted by: robin at July 16, 2004 10:15 AM
I've always been surprised at how much of a red state North Carolina still has been the past fifteen or so years. Even though it's in the South and home to Jesse Helms and Fort Bragg, North Carolina sort of has a reputation for being one of the more progressive states in the South. Or at least that's what I've always thought.
Posted by: John at July 16, 2004 02:35 PM
pop culture+politics+a smidgen of satire=quite possibly one of the best blogs ive stumbled across in my travels
Posted by: cia at July 16, 2004 09:54 PM
yeah john, we actually ARE one of the more progressive southern states. even in the more rural areas (where i am from), it holds true. in terms of comparison, i mean--no one ever dared called north cackalack a "hotbed of liberal ideology and sexual promiscuity, laughing in the face of their more conservative brethren." well, at least not to our face.
Posted by: yonni at July 19, 2004 04:35 PM
I just wanted to note that Internationalist Books has been doing a fair amount of voter registration lately at some of the local rock shows around town. We'll be at Antibalas @ the Cradle this Friday and Thurs-Sat @ Merge Fest. So if any of you rockers need to register or re-register, come on by!
Posted by: phaedra at July 21, 2004 10:28 AM