They say young people are excited about Obama for President. This very much reminds me of 1960, the year I graduated from BHS. The young people then liked John Kennedy. I’m sure many older folks in Bloomington remember the day a platform (or flat bed truck?) was set up on the south side of the square and some celebrities spoke for Kennedy . The only speaker I can recall was the actor Jeff Chandler…probably because he was heckled and he threatened to come into the crowd and settle the issue. For young people it was the youth, charm and looks of Kennedy versus the older looking, lackluster and much uglier Nixon . It turned out to be a close election. The folks for whom issues mattered (Unions, Corporations, Taxpayers, etc) made it a horse race. Then, as now, the candidates made grand sounding statements and promised things would get better. The reality is that Congress is where the real power is but Congress has 535 members , numerous committees and rules so arcane the public cannot understand them. So we focus on the President. He is one man and we can understand that.
Ltr sent H-T 4Feb08
Update: After this letter was published I got a call from a guy who was at the rally. I believe his name is Jerry Gregory. He reminded me that the actress Angie Dickenson was there and had spoke before Chandler. Chandler opened by saying something like "Angie can even speak while lying down." There was a shocked silence from the crowd then catcalls began which triggered Chandler's outburst.
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