FEBRUARY
23, 2004 --
Thanks to our
interstate highway system, just three days after getting photos
of Hugh Jackman signing autographs for admirers of his performance
in The Boy From Oz, after the Valentine‘s Day matinee, I
was snapping photos of Sen. John F. Kerry, signing autographs for
admirers of his presidential campaign, at the Madison West Marriott,
in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Madison, Wisconsin
is just a 15 hour drive from New York City, by way of I-80 in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio (toll road) and Indiana (toll road).
(Thanks to the kind Indiana State Trooper who let me off with a
warning at about 1.30 a.m., en route to Wisconsin, February 17.)
In Illinois, with its numerous 40-cent toll gates, I-80 should
be left for I-90 somewhere near Rockford, and next time I’m
on the road, I hope to catch the turn. Missing the turn, I reached
Madison by making a left turn somewhere near Milwaukee, by way
of I-94. The drive was made easier by listening to the original
cast CD of The Boy From Oz, a musical biography of the late Peter
Allen, and also to a CD of Peter Allen.
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| Hugh
Jackman, star of “The Boy from Oz” signs after
a performance. |
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| Indeed
so… |
Literally, the first
sign of the Wisconsin primary was spotted outside the polls at Madison
East High School, on Washington Avenue, in Madison.
Next, a stop
at a glum Dean headquarters, a visit at an upbeat Kerry headquarters,
where volunteers were at the phones and crafting posters. (Opposite
the Kerry office was a Dean (no relation to the former presidential
aspirant) coffee shop.
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| The
Dean Deli, opposite from Kerry headquarters (no relation). |
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| Before
the Rally - Grass-roots poster writing. |
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| The
Democratic Agenda? |
Afterwards, stops
at the Middleton law office used by the Kucinich campaign, and to the
Edwards office in a corner of a bar-laundromat in a University of Wisconsin
part of Madison. (Much of Madison seems to be a university part of
town, with some space left fo the state capitol, where, February 18,
I photographed the end of a demonstration about chiropractic benefits.
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| Citizens
for Chiropractic Benefits protest outside state capitol building. |
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| Marching
to the capitol. |
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| Looking
for “signs” of Kucinich |
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|
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| Marriott
Madison West in Middleton, WI, home to the Kerry rally. |
Having missed
the chance for an impromptu photo of Senator Kerry before the
start of his post-primary celebration at the Marriott, I stationed
myself hoping to catch the senator when he arrived at the Superior
Room at the Marriott for his victory statement. Once again,
I missed the senator, but I did hear embarrassed whispers from
people entering the hall, about how close the race was between
Kerry and John Edwards.
Edwards,
on ABC‘s “This Week,” February 22 (once
known as Washington’s Birthday) indicated in his
interview with George Stephanopoulos that he takes politics
personally. I previously sensed the same from Senator Kerry
when I heard him deliver this gibe at President Bush, at
the Superior Room: “Some of us know something about
aircraft carriers for real.” In the buildup before
Kerry appeared at the rally, a firefighters union leader
declared, “We‘re no longer necessarily the
moral leader in this world.” And he predicted an
election, this time, not a “Supreme Court appointment.”
When
I heard Senator Kerry speaking I headed onto the floor
of the Superior Room, away from the press ghetto in the
back of the hall. There were a few hundred Kerry supporters
on the floor and they graciously made room for me to maneuver
towards the speaker’s platform to get photos of their
candidate. Without their kindness, I could not have taken
many of my photos of Senator Kerry
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| Senator
Kerry addresses supporters. |
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| LPR’s
take: “and I ain’t whistlin’ crackers!” |
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| “Kerryites” at
the rally. |
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| A “Kerryite”. |
He concluded
his remarks by promising to “reach out to all Americans,” adding
that “together we can change the direction of the country.” A
poster at the Kerry headquarters, however, did, note that the
Senator had spent the last thirty years fighting Republicans
from Nixon to Bush. This fighting spirit was evident when the
senator said that for “Bush, Rove and Gillespie” he
had “three words: bring it on.” (Once again promoting,
in effect, the title of a book by the conservative Pat Robertson.)
The trip
back to New York was delayed about an hour as I toured,
quite lost, some of Wisconsin‘s dairy country. Also,
prior to leaving Madison, Shana and I went out on frozen
Lake Mendota. We also got a a ten dollar parking ticket.
True, this sum is a great deal more humane than the imposts
handed out in New York City - still how refreshing it would
be to hear a candidate reach out to all Americans by saying
bureaucrats should not try to close budget gaps on the
cars of American motorists.
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| PVB
in New York take notice - Madision, Wisconsin uses
Jeeps for enforcement. |
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| Once
the Democratic frontrunner-- now, an old campaign. |
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