Lebanon Democratic Blog

I just got home from the Vice-President’s rally for Senator Specter. It was a great time and the little band of veterans we rounded up at the last minute accomplished our purpose.

Our little group of veterans probably could not have achieved more at the rally if we had 100 people there. We did not think we would be able to get into the rally. The newspaper had said you had to get a ticket from Senator Specter’s office yesterday. As the woman issuing the tickets told me when I ask, due to a communications problem not as many people as expected could come. Basically they were desperate for any warm bodies.The crowd was so sparse they had herded most of the people right up to the base of the stage. They ask us to not wear our Sestak buttons. Ironically, their attempt to keep us back away from the stage and not letting us wear our buttons made us stand out so we could not be missed.Every Specter supporter was wearing a Specter label even if they were not carrying a sign. Of course no one could bring any signs from outside of the hanger at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Airport where the rally was held. We were perfectly willing to take off our Sestak buttons but obviously we would not take Specter signs or wear Specter stickers.

I must acknowledge that the people of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre could not have been more polite and helpful. We were getting along so well with most of the Specter supporters one of them gave one of our people fresh batteries for his camera.

When Specter looked over at the Handicap Seating where I, a Navy veteran using a walker, and a World War II veteran were sitting (of course they put us in the back row) he could not miss us because there were only a handful of people in the rows in front of us. I have to admit the World War II vet looked healthier than me or the Navy man. He was there despite just having a kidney removed six weeks ago.

When he looked to the rear of the hanger there stood a former Army Captain wearing his flight jacket. He sort of stood out with his unit patches and all the accouterments. In the back somewhere was a young woman wearing an Army PT shirt. The rest of our little group of about 12 were not wearing anything clearly military. But since they were obvious because they had no labels or signs.

When Senator Specter looked around and saw us in the audience he turned a little pale, just for a second or so. This would not have been too bad except we got to talk to the press before he arrived.

I am sure Vice-PresidentP Biden was a little disappointed that there were so few people there from his birthplace and childhood home, Scranton. But is he was you would never know it. Biden was in great form. If he flubbed anything I sure did not catch it.

Senator Casey was enthusiastic and supportive of his colleague. I have never seen him not overjoyed to speak before any collection of Democrats.

We were there to ask Vice-President Biden to speak out against Senator Specter’s accusation in the “No Show Joe” ad that Admiral Specter had been relieved of duty for “creating a hostile command environment.” I will address that issue in a separate blog post.

A reporter from one of the newspapers who had already heard our side and Senator Specter about his mean spirited attack during the press scrum as they were leaving the stage. Senator Specter actually tried to tell the reporter that he had never said anything negative against Sestak. The reporter was able to exactly quote the line from Specter’s ad. When the Senator had no answer the reporter told him that there would be an article in his paper on the subject.

We got great interest from all of the press. Every reporter, all the way from the Associated Press to the local Fox station ask to speak to our star. The Navy man with the walker had a great story to tell. I believe every reporter ask for and got his home phone and cell phone number. They wanted to be able to ask him any further questions they might have. At least one reporter specifically wanted to do a more detailed interview by phone. By that time the surgery six weeks ago was clearly taking its toll.

The airport opened the hanger doors so we could watch the Vice-President and two Senators board and take off.  The only people who did not get to see it were the first ones out the exit. I am sure Richard Nixon took of more quickly when he left the White House but even Nixon turned around an waved to the crowd. Vice-President Biden, Senator Specter, and Senator Casey climbed those stairs and took off as quickly as Air Force 2 would go.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 11:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.