An Air of Presidency: My First Encounter With Barack Obama

[I wrote this the other day to try to put some thoughts on paper. I don't know how applicable it is to Coe except that maybe I was on Coe's Washington DC term during the time I write about. p.s. my biases are out now, I'm an Obama supporter]

With the election only days away I’ve been contemplating the idea of President Barack Obama quite a bit. Every time I see him on TV or read something about him, I’m always reminded of the very first encounter with the senator.
I was an intern for Senator Tom Harkin in the spring of 2007. As an intern, one of my responsibilities was sitting in the front lobby to answer phones and greet guests. We got Senator Harkin’s schedule every morning so we knew which visitors to expect and where he would be all day. Much to my surprise, as I was looking through the schedule one morning I saw an appointment with the freshman, Senator Obama.
A preface to this story is that I had just fallen in love with Barack. I watched his 2004 convention speech and was transfixed. On my drive to Washington that winter I had read his book, and had been carrying it with me all around D.C. I was amazed by his oratory and when reading his political philosophy I often caught myself nodding my head in agreement. I had already joined the Facebook group attempting to draft him for president and DC was just starting to stir with the same suggestions.
After waiting all day and most of the afternoon, the appointment time was finally approaching. A few Iowans were sitting in the lobby waiting to meet with some senior staffers, and were just milling around talking about the popcorn we served in our office, as Iowans often do. In mid conversation about DeWitt with one of the guests, the door opened and in walked a stately-looking Senator Obama. He walked with a certain swagger that I can’t quite explain. A swagger seemed to say “I’m confident in myself, but I’m no better than you.” As he walked in he flashed his trademark smile and introduced himself to no one in particular, but seemingly everyone at the same time. “Hello, I’m Barack Obama.” Everyone in the room knew who he was, but he didn’t take this for granted and humbled himself to introductions and pleasantries with the Iowans. He fit right in with talk about popcorn.
About fifteen minutes after the scheduled meeting time the senators finally got to their meeting. Obama was a young rock star in the senate, but was meeting with Harkin to pay his respects to his elders and just get to know his way around the block. The fame hadn’t gone to his head, he knew his place and was seeking to build relationships and learn from the veterans of the Senate. When the meeting ended, again about 30 minutes behind schedule, Senator Obama’s staffers we hustling him out of the office to meet another scheduling commitment. Barack wasn’t concerned, however. He wasn’t caught up in the hustle of day-to-day Washington. He was more concerned in making sure he soaked up the advice of Harkin and took time to greet everyone on the way out (and yes, sign my book). He assured his staff that the schedule wasn’t that big of a deal and they would be alright. I had no idea what the scheduling conflict was, but his assuring tone and confidence made me believe him. Eventually he left the office, flashing the same smile, and walking with the same presidential air.
I’m not voting for Barack because he’s a good speaker or looks presidential. I’m voting for him because I agree with his policies and worldview. It is very reassuring, however, to have experienced first hand a calm and collected candidate – a man that is confident in himself, but seeks the advice of others. A man who flies so high, but does so with both feet on the ground. A man who understands the importance of other’s opinions, but can reassure others around him that he’s made the right decision. A man who gets respect without demanding it. A man who’s confident demeanor is reassuring in a time of uncertainty. And a man who’ll stroll into a room full of Iowans and be able to talk about popcorn.

An interesting week for the social scientist

So while I do have a lot of fun at Coe as you can see from my past posts, I do occasionally engage in some academics. As a political science major and economics minor, I like to consider myself a social scientist (studying how people interact with each other in different aspects). While the last few weeks have been interesting in this field, this week has been the best so far.

Last night I went to a student-led discussion on race. It was moderated, but mostly just students talking about how they felt about race. I learned a lot of interesting things from my fellow students, and we discussed in detail and debated things like Affirmative Action and White Privilege.

Right after the race discussion I hustled over to meet the Political Science Club to watch the debate. We’ve watched all the debates together and last night we ordered food from Aladdin’s, an awesome Middle Eastern restaurant in town. After the debate I sat around and ate pita bread and discussed education policy with my friend who is doing her semester of student teaching.

Right after I post this I’m headed to an economic forum. Two of my economics professors and a guest lecturer (one of our trustees) are going to be discussing the current state of our economy and most importantly, how the $700 Billion bailout is going to work (or not work). I’ve been reading a lot and trying to keep up with this but it will be nice to have a couple economists explain it to me in the way a professor knows how.

Ladies and Gentlemen... The Capitol Steps

If you're a long time blog-reader of mine you've probably picked up on the idea that I'm fairly interested in politics. If not I'll just lay it out there for you: I'm a political science major, president of the Coe Democrats and spent my summer working on campaigns.
My sophomore year this interest led me to an internship in the U.S. Senate in Washington DC through Coe's Washington Term. This is a whole other blog in itself, but the one thing that is relevant is the evening I went to a showing of the Capitol Steps. The Capitol Steps is a group of former Congress staffers who got fed up with the day-to-day business of Washington and quit their jobs to form a satirical group to mock the very establishment they worked for. Needless to say, the fusion of political humor and satirical versions of Sir Mixalot (I like tax cuts and I cannot lie) had me hooked.
After loving this show in DC I knew I had to find a way to share it with everybody at Coe. It took two years and cooperation among four or five different student groups to muster up the support, planning and most importantly, funding. Finally, last Tuesday at 8:00 in our Sinclair Auditorium the Capitol Steps took the stage at Coe College. I got to (or had to) introduce the group and it was probably the most nervous I've been about something in a long time. There were over a thousand people in the house and I had to go out and read some corny jokes and thank all the sponsors. I managed to get through it without fumbling or tripping on the stairs, so I think I'm going to consider my part a success (or at least not a failure!)
And probably the best part was that my parents came and took me out for dinner afterwards... food again!

Homecoming recap

So my final Homecoming has come and gone, and while I'm a little sad thinking that I won't be able to do it again, I had a great time last week. We won the volleyball tournament and the girls won the powderpuff football game... of course the seniors always do!

The end of the week consisted of the football game and the dance. The football game was exciting to watch (I used to play on the football team so I think I have an even greater interest ) but we ended up losing when Loras ran a controversial last play with no time left on the clock. Even though the game ending kind of sucked, I had a good time tailgating with my friends and playing some bags. A couple of my friends who graduated last year came to visit and a few of my friends' parents brought grills and food, which always makes me happy!

And what is a homecoming without a dance? I didn't have a date to the dance this year (I never really have I guess). Every year I've just hung out with my friends before the dance and we all just go together. This year we were being cheap and decided not to go out to eat or do anything big and hung out at a friend's house and ordered some Papa John's. After we devoured the Papa Johns in our ties and dresses, (classy, I know) we decided it'd be fun to live in the past and take some "prom-esque" pictures. This is my friend Danielle and I just before we left for the dance. Everybody at Coe then jumps on a shuttle bus that takes us to the Crowne Plaza hotel, where the dance takes place. I had a great time and at the end of the night my shirt turned from light peach to a dark orange.

(Thanks to Alec Herr of Coe's newspaper, The Cosmos, for the pic of volleyball and Danielle and Lauren for the other two.)