Obama & Me: Lancaster, Pa. Hears Barack

I had to do it.

Barack Obama, the front-running Democrat in the race for his party's presidential nomination came to ultra-conservative Lancaster County today, and I had to see what all the hub-bub is about. The candidate I'm supporting for president, Republican John McCain, hasn't been to my neck of the woods yet (he was scheduled to be here, but had to go make a last-minute vote in the Senate), but you can bet I'll see him before its all over.

I'm in the middle of reviewing my notes from Obama's oratory and the subsequent Q & A session that immediately followed, and I can honestly see why people like him. The crowd was clearly dazzled -- mouths agape and eyes all a-glaze. These were clearly loyal fans -- the Obama people had arranged it that way.

Rick gray, the Democratic Mayor of Lancaster City, had offered up a 6,000-seat venue at the local baseball stadium, but Obama's people insisted that it stay at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. I'm guessing the PR reason was to keep it at an educational location since a few of his comments were about education (Lancaster County is a no-brainer stop for this type of commentary -- we've got three colleges and one university). Still, the 1,000-seat venue at Thaddeus Stevens kept out much of the riff-raff and was, as local broadcasters described it "intimate."

"This guy..." one of my conservative friends said, then stopped in disgust. He just shook his head, clearly unable to go on. As I was walking away, he said, "At least that's the last of them, right?"

I didn't know what to say. After all, Hillary Clinton was just here two weeks ago and the election isn't for three more weeks. I muttered something about there being 67 other counties in Pennsylvania and left. My friend didn't look convinced.

Check back late tonight or tomorrow for a full rundown of Obama's remarks (I won't have a transcript, but I'll link to one if I can find it) -- and give you my take on them. I'll do my best to summarize his comments to the audience in their full context, so as not to face recrimination for doing otherwise. I'll concede this much -- I did like some of what he said. Other stuff didn't seem very realistic to me, but a few of his comments actually gave me The Fear, complete with goosebumps and hackled neck hair.

I'll explain later. Stay tuned.