The view from here

Election notes from Columbus, OH. Last week, John Kerry was in Katzinger’s, the deli around the corner from my house. Tonight he and Bruce Springsteen are at Ohio State University (OSU).

10/28/04 2:33 PM EST. I get a robot phone call from Ken Blackwell, the (Republican) Ohio Secretary of State. Big deal: Clinton called last night. If Ohio is Florida 2004, Blackwell will be Katherine Harris. I know you are thinking, “Das eine Malals Tragödie, das andere Mal als Farce,” but Harris nailed farce, so Ken has his work cut out for him. He reminds me that I can only vote in my correct precinct and asks if I know where this is (Me: “Yes.” Ken: “Excellent. Goodbye”). Some Ohioans view this an attempt to suppress the vote by getting people to worry about where they should go. That seems paranoid.

6:25 PM. At the OSU rally (30,000 present). A large group (1K?) of students for Bush marches in. Some of them were bused here, because later I see them being bused out. They are kept behind barriers at the periphery of the crowd, but everyone can hear their chants. The girls keep doing a fainting shriek that is surprisingly difficult to ignore. Kathi (a psychiatrist – and my research partner – and wife!) asks “How can anyone with a brain vote for Bush?” Me: “Empirical question. Let me go get one of them and we’ll take him to the MRI machine.” I get The Look. “Hey, 8 Tesla. If something’s in there, we’ll find it.” Bush will speak on Friday at the Nationwide Arena, where our NHL team plays. A much more expensive and, of course, controllable venue.

6:37 PM. The local pols speak. One of them says that the issue in this election is “the arrogance of one-party rule.” The PA plays “Keep on Rockin in the Free World.” I want to believe that this is a movement to restore democracy, and that it would survive either candidate’s victory. I’m encouraged that comments about process (“Did anyone have to sign a loyalty oath to get in here?”) play as well or better than points about jobs.

7:45 PM. Columbus’s Democratic Mayor takes the stage. “I’m Mike Coleman, and I am Mayor of the epicenter of the election.” He points out that the 2000 election was decided by 500 votes in Florida, and there are 50,000 students at OSU, so right here, right now “You can change the world.” We all look at each other — we’re on the fulcrum.

8:00 PM. BRUCE! I read the other day that Bush rocks his crowds – compared to whom? Springsteen’s a terrific speaker to boot. He closes with “No retreat, baby, no surrender!” What a step up from Clinton’s Fleetwood Mac or – christ – Dukakis’s Neil Diamond.

8:15 PM. Bruce introduces Kerry. Supposedly, Kerry’s crowds lack intensity. Not this time! Kerry is brief, clear. Not as good as Bruce, and he knows it and isn’t bothered by it. I am thrilled that the line “I will be a President who believes in science” gets a huge response from the crowd. No mention of the munitions. He promises that every child in America will get health insurance. As a professor of pediatrics, I find this breathtaking. How pathetic is that? Less impressively, he promises to make America energy independent. He makes a complicated point about property tax funding and equality of educational opportunities, and to my surprise the crowd really responds. The reason, I think, is that OSU gets a lot of bright kids from farm counties who describe Columbus as “the big city.” (You can rip tendons keeping a straight face here.) They meet suburban kids who went to schools that had everything, and draw the appropriate conclusions.

9:12 PM. We are walking down High St. to our car. A bus full of students for Bush drives by with their heads out the window yelling slogans. Do they follow the Kerry campaign? This bus is all white males in white shirts and ties. Perfect. Not an OSU look, to put it mildly, so it must be how the right wing does nose rings. Hypotheses about incestuous sexual preferences are exchanged.