Thoughts After an Elizabeth Warren Rally At the Seattle Center [Repaired]

My daughter asked if I would go with her to an Elizabeth Warren rally tonight in the Seattle Center (where the 1962 Worlds Fair was held and where the Space Needle is.)  When we were in Anchorage back in December I'd thought that going south I should try to find some campaign rallies, since we aren't going to get any presidential candidate rallies in Anchorage.  So I scored right after we got to LA - there was a Bernie Sanders rally at Venice Beach.  

[I was tired last night Sanders - Warren] was just a ferry and bus ride away.  So with my knee wrapped in a compression sleeve and a fold up cane, just in case, off we went.  

 We got in and managed to get a spot pretty close to the front. in the ADA section.  My daughter pushed for this and I felt a bit guilty, but when I sit down and stand up and move my knee wrong, it hurts like hell.  And the cane had been helpful walking the hill to the bus stop.  But I'm not mentally ready to acknowledge I'm hurting and slow.

I mention where we were sitting (well there was one seat available and my daughter stood, though we switched a couple times when I wanted to take pictures from a different angle) because one of my first reactions was that the audience was a LOT older than the Bernie crowd at Venice Beach.  And a lot less diverse.  My daughter pointed out that maybe it had something to do with sitting in the ADA section.  But I had my telephoto lens and was looking all around.  It was a much older crowd.










And the music reflected that too.   There was one 60s song after another - These Boots Are Made for Walking, Sweet Caroline, the Supremes, Good Vibrations, a Beatles song, and on and on.

Bernie's team had surely had a staffer pick the play list and it was MUCH more contemporary and matched the audience.  He also had live music including Young the Giant, who I didn't know, but the folks around me were all excited about.

The Bernie rally also included everyone going through security.  Every back pack and purse and bag was checked, pockets were emptied.  TSA would have been proud.  Just no scanners to walk through.

Tonight there was NO checking at all.


I suspect some of this is due to money.  Sanders has more.

 The website had said that doors open at 4 or 4:30 and the event started at 6pm tonight.  But except for canned music nothing really happened until about 6:30.  A local volunteer pulled tickets out of a box for people who could ask questions at the end.  Then more canned music.  Then a local volunteer, then another talked about being a veteran and ended saying "No 16 year old should be forced to choose the army because he can't afford college and can't find a job."

And another local woman.  All were articulate.

 And then Elizabeth Warren came on about 7:00.

In contrast, the Sanders rally started with canned music and then had live music starting about 45 minutes before things were supposed to start.  Then at noonish, a series of city and state elected officials spoke, a local Congress member or two, then Cornell West, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and finally Bernie came on at 2:30.

 If there were any local dignitaries sitting behind the stage tonight, they weren't given a chance to speak and they weren't acknowledged.

Warren did get on stage at 7pm which was closer to the start of the rally than in Bernie's rally, and she talked about 45 minutes, including answering questions.

And she was good - articulate, passionate, and she knows the issues.  I'd be more than happy with a President Sanders or a President Warren.  These candidates, aren't as way out there as much of the media is telling us.   They are on top of the issues that matter now if the US and the world are going to have a fighting chance - including Climate Change, but also the economic imbalance between the very rich and the vast majority.

I have some video and I'll try to get it up soon.  This is NOT the time to hesitate, to play it save, because that's not the answer either.  It's time, she told us to make bold plans, have big dreams, and fight hard.  The same pundits that said Trump didn't have a chance are saying the same about Sanders.  I just think they're wrong.  No candidate is going to achieve everything they promise.  They've got to deal with Congress.  But the higher they aim, the higher they'll end up.  Sanders [Warren] was one of the most popular law professors at Harvard because she's smart, does her homework, can respond quickly, and talk about big ideas as well as specifics.  She's a much more agile candidate than Clinton was and I'll bet that Trump will do everything he can to avoid being on the stage head to head with him.  She'll make mincemeat out of him.

The Space Needle was lit up as we went out to catch the bus back to the ferry.

[UPDATE  Feb 23, 2020:  Thanks to BB - who emailed me - and BC - who commented below - who pointed out I wrote Sanders instead of Warren in a couple of places. I always wonder about how the brain works in such situations.  Both names have the letters a, r, and n, both have two syllables. One is seven letters longhand one six.  Would I have made the same kind of mistake if I was comparing to  Buttigieg or Klobuchar?   The House of Names says this about Sanders:

"The Anglo-Norman surname Sanders is derived from the name Saunder, which is a pet form of the personal name Alexander. This name was originally derived from the Greek personal name Alexandros which literally means defender of men."

And for Warren, they say this:

"The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 added many new elements to an already vibrant culture. Among these were thousands of new names. The Warren family lived in Sussex. Their name, however, is a reference to Varrenne, Normandy, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. [1] Despite this name's resemblance to the Germanic Guarin, often translated as Warin, the names are not thought to be related.]