In April of 2006, my son came home from school, and announced he had "good news and bad news." I honestly can't remember what the bad news was, but the good news was that our U.S. Senator, Barack Obama was coming to speak at his school, York Community High School.
An important point to make here, is that York Community High School is located in Elmhurst Illinois, in DuPage County, one of the most conservative counties in Illinois. Henry Hyde was our representative until he retired in 2007. So Barack Obama comes into Henry Hyde's district, after his first year in the senate, to hear what the people are concerned about. This was long before he announced that he was running for President.
We went early and got good seats. In front of us were eight elderly women, sitting together and talking quietly. They stood up and applauded when our republican mayor took the stage. The mayor in his usual folksy way joked with the crowd to be friendly, and to give Senator Obama a warm reception and to listen to what he has to say. Everyone in that auditorium knew that this was not the senators "home turf".
When Senator Obama took the stage, there was polite applause among the crowd, but not among the eight octogenarians in front of us, as they remained seated and silent.
As Senator Obama opened his remarks, he thanked the principle of York, Ms. Diana Smith, and the League of Women's voters for inviting him to speak. He joked about swimming in shark infested waters, but he said he held these kind of meetings because in Washington there is a tendency over time to get out of touch and get absorbed in what he called "the partisan food-fight." The kids loved that line, the eight women in front of us didn't smile.
For the next 90 minutes, he answered questions about immigration, the war in Iraq, health care, the need for America to invest in education-primarily math and science- (that got a standing ovation from the student section of the house), even the Great Lakes Commission's efforts to keep Lake Michigan clean. He did not rattle off talking points, he covered every topic posed to him, IN DEPTH, with astute and knowledgeable responses, and even offered people follow up questions.
At the end of the event, he thanked everyone for coming, he thanked the students he met with before the event for their interest and activism in our government, and waved to the crowd.
As he left the stage, the eight ladies seated in front of us, and the entire auditorium, were no longer seated. The Senator left to a thunderous standing ovation. He hit it out of the park, as they say.
I knew then what I know now, this man has a deep grasp of the issues that are on the minds of Americans, on the left and on the right. I have no doubt he will knock it out of the park tonight as well.
Oh, and a feel good side note, John F. Kennedy also spoke at York, in October of 1960, a month before he was elected.