But, I won't be there tomorrow (Friday), so I negotiated to get to go to today's event in Manchester instead. It was billed as a Women's Event, featuring Michelle Obama and Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. So, alone, I travelled to Manchester a little later than I would have liked, and arrived by 1pm.
The venue was called The Amory, and it appears to be an old armory annexed by a large hotel, and now used as a very nice, rustic function room. There were about 200 seats, and I took one in the very last row. In front of me was Abby Goldstien from NHPR. I spotted other prominent Dems and activists. I scanned the staff for familiar faces and only recognized two from the old Edwards team.Just before 1:30pm, Michelle Obama & Jeanne Shaheen were introduced. Michelle did a short prepared speech first. She wore one of her signature "shift" dresses with a cute matching sweater. She was relaxed, and I am happy to say, not overly made-up. And man is she tall! After her, Shaheen spoke (no notes), then they joined four women in a pseudo-View style set up.
Being that I like policy more than the average person, I was a bit bored with the format. I felt that Jeanne Shaheen did an excellent job bringing topics back to talking points, linking some of the issues to her proposals. But you know me, I am not here to report on all 
that. You can read the papers if you want to know the text.
that. You can read the papers if you want to know the text.I decided that I needed to hang out after for a photo or handshake, and am glad I did. There wasn't a huge crowd. First was Shaheen, who seemed to know everyone by name. She really knows this state. After I shook her hand I mentioned that I am loving her daughter's new blog. She beamed like a typical proud parent, and started telling everyone about it. Molly wouldn't do it unless she could be herself, which is what I love about the blog. Her voice is so much like the young people I work with every day, so I find the blog very authentic.
A few moments later, I shook the hand of the the future first lady. She was very at easy, and had a great handshake. Did I mention how TALL she is? The carries herself very well, and is very poised. Impressive.
Before leaving, I was spotted by Susie, now the logistics go-to woman for Shaheen. Just after we had a picture taken together, we got cornered by a WCVB TV (Boston's channel 5) reporter. Given that Susie is a staffer, it was all me. With TV camera rolling and light shining in my face, the reporter asked, "So, were you a supporter of Clinton or Obama?" I knew this was going to be her question, so I was ready with my proud "I was an Edwards supporter, actually." I'm sure I ended up on the virtual editing room floor because I just didn't fit the current headline.
Let's hope that today's Unity event puts that headline to rest, so we can all just move on from this silliness & get down to the serious business of putting Democrats back in the White House & Capitol!
