Hasslington At The June 3 Obama Rally: The General Election Began In Saint Paul, Minnesota

JUNE 3, 2008--OUTSIDE OF THE XCEL ENERGY CENTER IN DOWNTOWN SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, AT APPROXIMATELY 5:30 P.M.

I take it on faith that she had back-up somewhere relatively nearby, but from my vantage point the policewoman so diminutive that she made the late, short-of-stature film critic Pauline Kael (who could perhaps compete in a height contest with, say, Yoda) look impressively built, didn't seem to have anything at her disposal but her baton, which she was waving as though to utilize "the force" in order to move the crowd of hundreds across the downtown Saint Paul intersection of Washington and Sixth.  (Given the density of the crowd and the fact that most in it couldn't see her--much less hear her--her actions came across initially as though she were trying to part the Red Sea entirely without the help of divine intervention.)

When I lived in Britain, a good friend of mine who had recently traveled to the United States once rather good-naturedly asked me, "What's with you Yanks?  You're insanely sociable.  Get any of you in a group and you blather away endlessly.  And often several people talk at once.  Do you ever have time to stop and think, or carry on an actual conversation?"  Other non-Americans in the room at the time laughed along with me, but, interestingly enough, they also largely agreed with him.  Evidently, in addition to other things, we Americans wear other folks out with our often-ceaseless, fairly multi-directional chatter.

I say this because by 5:30 p.m. my fellow Americans on the corner of Washington and 6th had long-since worn me out with their endless chatter.  Topics were flying through the air (and into my brain) at what would normally be considered an alarming rate, adding to the difficulty the policewoman was having getting anyone's attention regarding the approach of a yellow bus intending to carry harried high school graduates through the middle of the intersection occupied by a mass of talking, giggling, and what seemed like chanting humanity.  It also added an extra, and ultimately insurmountable, layer of challenge to my ill-fated attempt "to quietly take this moment of anticipatory history in; to feel the weight of history."  I was standing in the endless line to enter the Xcel Energy Center in order to hear and see Senator Barack Obama, a man of mixed-ethnicity, be the first individual with such a background to claim the status of Presumptive Presidential Nominee of the Democratic Party.

But if we Americans are "insanely sociable"--even, at times, to the point where we're just talking at people instead of conversing with them--we are also incredibly civilized in many ways, as well.  As a case in point, when people finally got the message the policewoman was sending to them, they all started chatting to the folks nearby about how "we really ought to move to the side of the road."  And then, physics be damned, we all managed to create enough space for the bus to get through.  And, comfort levels in such crushed-quarters be damned, most of us waved at the perplexed graduates and their families riding in the busses, and wished them congratulations (loudly, of course).  Given my experiences, such an outcome would have been far more difficult to come by in much of Europe.

APPROXIMATELY 8:00 P.M., IN THE UPPER DECK REGION OF THE XCEL ENERGY CENTER

Yes, this is an international world (an isolated, fortress-like America never really existed, of course, but it cannot even be conceived of by any group of rational people right now without their I.Q.s dropping sharply first).  I was reminded (again) of this when two gentlemen from Germany, sitting behind me, began discussing what they would like to eat, and which of them would have the privilege of standing in the lengthy concession line in order to buy whatever food they decided to choose.  My German is rusty, I know, but, after following their discussion pretty well for quite some time, I was sure I heard one of them say the equivalent of, "Well, as far as food goes, I would love to be a fish."  Upon reflection, however, I've determined that he most likely said something closer to, "Well, as far as food goes, I would love to have fish."  (And, yes, there was a place selling fish baskets nearby.)

This is an international world in another sense, too, also very much represented by these two German gentlemen as they discussed the goings-on in their language (and occasionally spoke to nearby Americans in English).  This other sense is that their discussion began to take on the formation of many discussions around me in that they referred to the crowd as "we," they referred to Obama-supporters as "we," and it became clear that they referred to people from Western countries (primarily Europe and North America) as "we."  To them, Barack Obama is not only an American political leader--which from their standpoint would be someone else's political leader--but also a Western political leader--a leader of "them," yes, but just as importantly a leader and inspiration to "us" Westerners and, to a certain extent, world citizens.

And this is a more visceral "togetherness" than that felt when President Kennedy or President Reagan delivered monumental speeches in Berlin; their speeches were great, but the sense of "togetherness" was still very symbolic at the time.  The geo-political and especially geo-cultural lines are more blurred now, to the point where what was once viewed as a great speech by a fine American leader is now viewed as a moment when we are not "like" one another so much as we are "a part" of one another.  These days, with the enormous exception of President Bush, there seems to be less standing-on-differences between, say, Germans and Americans (or Britons and Americans, or...) than ever before, and instead more of a coalescing of our similarities is taking place, and rather naturally, too.  So we speak different native languages, or have slightly different cultural customs...so what?  We're far more alike than we are dissimilar, and folks in the Western world (as well as some other areas of the globe) are displaying this fact like never before.

SOMETIME AFTER 9:00 P.M., IN THE XCEL ENERGY CENTER

A few months ago, Pat Buchanan (of all people) said that, in comparison to Senator Obama's considerable speechmaking prowess, when he delivers speeches Senator McCain "seems to be briefing a flight crew."  I think an awful lot of us would fall into the "briefing a flight crew" category when measured alongside Senator Obama's ability to captivate an audience.

Captivate is exactly what he did during what many (including myself) consider his opening speech of the 2008 general election at the Xcel Energy Center (the very building in which Senator McCain will accept his party's nomination in September).  He had just surpassed the delegate totals necessary to secure the Democratic nomination (which will be made official, barring an unforeseen political catastrophe of historic proportions, at the Democratic convention in Denver in late August), and delivered an authoritative, inspiring, somewhat predictably generic but sweeping opening salvo with gusto and eloquence the likes of which we have come to expect from him.

The speech was a bit more combative and contentious than we're used to insofar as his comments regarding Senator McCain we concerned, but that was no surprise given that the race is finally almost fully in focus.  For instance, regarding Senator McCain's charge that Senator Obama should go to Iraq and see what is taking place there, Senator Obama countered with the charge that Senator McCain should listen closer to the wishes of the American people prior to and after delivering speeches in his native country.  (Actually, on that score, they're both right, though Senator Obama has been fighting a difficult political battle at home over the past few months, whereas Senator McCain has had the luxury of traveling around the world.)

Senator Obama delivered the usual flourishes we've heard from him dozens of times--"This is our time!"; "We are Democrats and Republicans, yes, but first and foremost we are united Americans!"; and so forth--but, though one might claim that they are rather generic, I find it difficult to claim that they are unhelpful in this transitional and uncertain era.  I find them much the opposite in fact:  they are reminders, if rather general ones, of what makes America the very workable "great experiment" that it is.  And, at any rate, they will be followed by complex policy proposals soon enough; for now, it's best to lay-out the general theme, and add to it piecemeal.  (Senator McCain seems to think likewise, given his speech a few hours previous to that of Senator Obama.)

Need I report that the crowd was in a perpetual state of going absolutely bonkers?  (I've been to highly-anticipated athletic events in that building; the volume this time exceeded that of any event I've been to there.)  Perhaps I should simply leave it at that, and let your imagination fill in the rest.  But perhaps I should point out that there was a real emotional charge in the air, too; there were many a tear in many an eye during certain emotionally-charged portions of the speech (there may have been one or two in my eyes, as well), which is testament to Senator Obama's uncanny ability to achieve an emotional-mastery of large crowds.

After the speech was over and we left the building, I thought to myself, if that guy can work even a third as well with national legislators as he works with big crowds, we may really have something this time.  If "hope" is the operative word in 2008 (along with "change," of course), that's my hope.