Come Friends its not too late to seek and create a newer world.
As I sit in my hotel room in gorgeous Manchester New Hampshire, I cannot help but reflect upon the days events that have brought me to this place and the valuable lesions I have learned from my experience. After convening behind the rec. center, the group of would be political connoisseurs mounted one of the universities fifteen passenger vans and in what can only be described as a purely American display of democracy (one in which our CORE history professors would be proud of) elected me driver. Having just taken the van safety seminar, I was overcome with the amount of responsibility. However, as the miles rolled bye and the Mass border came and went I regained my confidence, wielding the power of the radio and the responsibility of the vehicle. We arrived in Manchester shortly after 12 and were settled into our rooms quickly as each student possessed a certain excitement for the day’s events and was excited to get started.
the gang
After registering with the College Convention staff, myself and two other Roger Williams students made our way into the hall where presidential candidate Kuchinich was giving a speech regarding his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. There were about two hundred, students, professors, campaign advisors, activists, and the media members in attendance to share the experience of democracy in action. I have been a political activist for about a year now and I have seen a good number of Presidential candidates in person, but this was my first time seeing presidential candidate Kuchinich and I did not know what to expect from his presentation. He impressed me with his public speaking style and his ability to contrive responses to difficult questions so elegantly in a commendable fashion. However, as most politicians practice the art of question dodging, you could compare Mr. Kuchinich art of question dodging with Michelangelo’s art of sculpting. Specially, his dodging of RWU student Shannon Donahue’s question regarding domestic social welfare was masterful and displayed the epitome of craftiness in conversation.
Myself and Mr. Kucinich
After presidential candidate Kuchinich’s speech, the group decided to get some lunch. We took a short walk down Elm Street in Manchester and found a few locally owned small restaurants. Being the only Republican in attendance from the RWU delegation, I suggested the restaurant with the giant character of Bill Clinton emblazoned on the broad side of the building to prove my capacity for bi partisanship. We settled for a small Hungarian place not too far down the road.
Upon our return to the hotel, we saw presidential candidate Kuchinich giving an interview in the vestibule of the hotel lounge. Having no shame, after the interview was completed I briskly walked over to Mr. Kuchinich and told him that there is a large delegation of Roger Williams Students that enjoyed his speech and would love to have a picture with him. I could see that he was very tiered, he looked warn out from the road and I am sure he just wanted to go back to his room and eat his vegan Chinese lunch he had in his hand. Immediately I realized the human aspect to presidential candidates. Presidential candidates are not the energizer bunny and cannot keep going and going…they are people too. Reluctantly he obliged to my request, relieved himself of his overcoat, his Blackberry Pearl, his bagged lunch, and assumed the photo op position (smiling from ear to ear with his hands stretched over the backs of his grateful supporters.) As son as the cameras secede their flashing he returned to his distressed state and carried on with his lunch break.
Immediately following that incident, the RWU team parted ways into two different lectures. I went with three other students a lecture entitled Going Nuclear: Questioning Candidates. There were approximately twenty-eight students (mostly high school) in attendance and some media members. The purpose of the lecture was unclear to me from the beginning, the moderator started off by asking the attendance for issues that make policy decisions for voters. The audience answered with issues like climate change, foreign policy, and alternative energy. They spoke briefly about issues surrounding candidates’ policy on nuclear perforation, nuclear weapons, nuclear free zones, and nuclear energy. It seemed very clear to me now that this was not a lesson on a changing nuclear scene but rather a lesson on how to confront a presidential candidate with questions they may choose to dodge. I was very upset at this point because I was trapped in a small room with a bunch of under enthused high school students learning how to properly ask questions and ascertain an answer that may make their subject look bad. To be honest, I just wanted to get out of there but I found it more courteous to stay and participate. I was excited to learn about how nuclear weapons and presidential personalities formulate foreign policy but I suppose that will have to be a lesson for another day.
The last event of the day was an address from presidential candidate Joe Biden. Two weeks ago, I was in Philadelphia with the schools Model United Nations team. The opening ceremony speaker was Joe Biden’s son, Bo Biden. If Joe Biden was anything like his son, I am sure I would have fallen asleep after the first ten minutes. To my surprise, Mr. Biden was very animated. He ascended the stage and commanded the audiences’ attention. He is actually one of the best public speakers I have ever had the pleasure of listening too. Without getting into detail his address was long and very in depth. However, he did not loose his audience’s attention for a moment and even after his address as finished, a crowd of maybe one hundred and twenty remained to speak with him. He was sincerely very impressive.
Joe and I
That is it for now, I really wanted to get into further detail regarding the content of the events, but at this early hour of the morning, I am finding it difficult to keep my eyes open. In anticipation for tomorrows, events I mist retire for the night.
