Much Ado About Harry Baals

It's FORT WAYNE in 2012!

The Indiana Democratic Party has announced that Fort Wayne will be hosting the party's state convention in 2012. This marks the first time that the convention has ever been held outside of Indy, and is the end result of a large effort undertaken by local and third district party faithful:

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry demonstrates his sense of humor while introducing Indiana's next secretary of state, Vop Osili

Great job, Tom!

Fort Wayne is Killing Me!

A new report by the University of South Carolina, Columbia, appears to indicate that the Summit City is one of America's "most likely places to die". The blue square that is Allen County sticks out like a sore thumb on their "death map". Although the categories of death in the survey are limited to acts of nature and such, one wonders whether or not boredom is a major factor. Other Hoosier locales that appear to be hazardous to your health include Gary (natch), Indy, Kokomo, Anderson, Terre Haute, and Richmond.

29th Annual Santa Lighting

Courtesy of jnswanson:



Also check out some live from the scene photos by Rachel Blakeman.

Long-Thompson visits Fort Wayne

Introduces Dennie Oxley as running mate:




Jill Long-Thompson met with a small crowd near Fort Wayne International Airport this afternoon to introduce Dennie Oxley as her choice for Lieutenant Governor. A short meet and greet took place before Rep. Win Moses took the podium to introduce Long-Thompson, who then in turn, introduced Oxley. Both candidates spoke for several minutes about their vision for the state of Indiana.

Long Thompson:

"Dennie's legislative career demonstrates that he is an effective leader and a champion of working people. His experience in the legislature, in the classroom, and in the business world will be put to good use. He's exactly the kind of Lieutenant Governor we need to help bring new prosperity and opportunity to communities across Indiana."

Oxley:

"Jill is a proven leader with executive experience - and I'm honored to partner with her to fight for better opportunities for all Hoosier families. Together we will work to grow our economy, protect good-paying jobs, lower health care costs for working famiies, strengthen our schools and overhaul the entire tax structure to make Indiana more competitive."

Oxley was first elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1998, and represents portions of eight southern Indiana counties as well as serving as Majority Whip for the House Democratic Caucus.

UPDATE: Video of the event





The "old media" managed to capture half of me standing behind Win Moses and Dennie Oxley. The two local bloggers who appear over Oxley's shoulders, reminiscent of the good angel-bad angel take, are local college students who's blog is unnamed at this time. No matter, it was awesome to see them turn out and be involved!

A Day at the Park

A little over a week ago, Kevin Whaley ,published a post about Foster Park, the suspension bridge to be precise. I've enjoyed that site since I was a teenager a long long time ago, and have enjoyed sharing it with my kids as well. Today we made the trip there once more:

Samantha and Sabrina on the north end of the bridge

The bridge, looking north from the park side
A side view from a park trail

*Note to our out-of-town readers: Our rivers aren't actually dirty. They've always looked the way that they appear today; it's the local soil that colors them so muddily.

Views of the St.Mary's River from the bridge
One of many huge old sycamore trees along the riverbank

Just one of the many treasures to be found in our fair city. . .

Picnic with Obama at Headwaters Park

An estimated crowd of over 4,500 enthusiastic supporters turned out today to hear Barack and Michelle Obama speak at Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne. Indiana's NewsCenter has video available.

The line to enter the event started in the parking lot to the south of the Lincoln Pavillion. It then followed the sidewalk on the west side all the way to the bridge before turning around and following the same sidewalk back to the west pavillion entrance. This photo shows the two way line if you look carefully. Security personnel were thorough, efficient and personable at the entrance.


It took me three attempts to get a half decent picture of Michelle as the crowd swarmed around her at the front. I'm still not sure how we were able to work our way up to that point, but once there, you weren't going anywhere. It was like a rock concert with fans pressed against one another like sardines, all vying for a handshake or that perfect photo.


I got several decent up close shots, and Jody was fortunate enough to get to shake the hand of our next president.



This is a shot of the crowd inside of the pavillion. All of the tables were filled as were several long rows of extra chairs near the west entrance. Note the masses of people standing along the north (back) side in this picture.



I don't often take pictures of t-shirts, but this one says it all - "I'm not voting for a pastor. I'm voting for a president".

Ft.Wayne Obama Block Party

Ace reporter Roger McNett brings us his report on the block party for Obama here in the Summit City. Roger has TONS of pictures AND video to share with us! Click the picture below to check it out:


Also, a reminder that there will be another Block Party next Saturday, May 3 starting at noon till 4:00. If you have NOT voted already, please plan to attend and vote. Then spend some time knocking on doors for change. As urgent as it was to register voters, it is now urgent to find supporters and get them to vote early. Let's make sure we know who needs a ride to the polls and who needs information about their polling location. Let's help Sen. Obama win Allen County! And then Indiana!! And then the White House!!! YEEEAAAHHHHH!!! Sorry. I was channeling Chairman Dean for a moment there! Can you blame me? I have HOPE!!

I'm the sort of voter who enjoys going to the polls on election day and voting in person. But, as the two Obama volunteers who visited my home today reminded me, THIS year has seen dramatic increases in registered voters and participation, so it MIGHT be a good idea to utilize the early voting process this time around. . .

How does Terry McAuliffe REALLY feel?

Not surprisingly, depending on from where and whom you get your news, you likely get a variety of viewpoints. Take Terry McAuliffe for example. In today's Journal Gazette, he discusses the importance of Fort Wayne and the surrounding areas to the Clinton camp.

Benjamin Lanka of The Journal Gazette reports:

Terry McAuliffe, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign chairman, made it quite clear the importance of northeast Indiana voter turnout for his candidate during his stop last week.

McAuliffe was in town to open Clinton’s local campaign office on Fairfield Avenue. He said it is vital for the party to have a fighter win the nomination, saying Vice President Al Gore should have won easily in 2000, but Democrats didn’t fight hard enough. He also said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., should have won in 2004 but didn’t respond quickly enough to criticism about his military record.

He said Clinton will be that fighter in the fall election, but it will be important for Hoosiers to support her this May. He said about 20 percent of the state’s population gets Chicago television – which he called Obama’s networks, as Sen. Barack Obama hails from Illinois. To balance that out, he said other areas of the state, including Fort Wayne and surrounding areas will need to come out strongly for Clinton.

However, those of us listening to The Ed Schultz Show on Air America on Monday afternoon received a completely different message from Mr.McAuliffe. McAuliffe, en route to the Summit City to open the local Clinton campaign office after working his way up the state, made some rather disparaging remarks about our part of the world.

Ed Schultz asked him if he really thought Hillary Clinton could still win at this point, with the math being what it is and all. McAuliffe replied "Ed, I've been driving through Indiana all morning. I would NOT be sitting here in a McDonalds off of I-69, in Fort Wayne of all places, eating a filet-o-fish sandwich if I didn't believe she could win".

Interpret that however you wish, but what I took away from it was that it was a burden for him to be here. Much in the same manner as the Clinton campaign dismissed the importance of all of the 'little states that don't matter" a while back. Mr.McAuliffe, welcome to our small corner of a "little state" that all of a sudden seems to matter. Just for the record, although we ARE forced to endure mainly conservative talk radio on our radios, we do get satellite radio here in podunk as well. . .

Obama Rallied the Fort

I was unfortunately unable to attend yesterday's visit by Senator Obama, but I've gotten a great feel for what I missed from everyone else's reports. There appears to have been far greater coverage from the old media as well as the area blogs than what was the case for Mrs.Clinton's recent appearance. In this morning's Journal Gazette, Kelly Soderlund noted what I thought was one of the most interesting facets of his visit. . .the obvious contrast between yesterday's rally and Senator Clinton's visit one week ago:

When Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., entered the gym, the crowd of 2,800 people yelled and screamed and clapped so loud that the sound ricocheted off the four walls. Audience members lifted their cameras and cell phones to take pictures of the presidential hopeful as he took the stage to talk about the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., gun control, education and the economy.

“He just brings so much life to everything,” said Gertha Jordan, 74, a retired Fort Wayne resident. “I’m just happy to have him running. He just seems like he’s full of hope and everything.”

It was a noted contrast to the event that his opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., held at a small Fort Wayne restaurant a week before. Clinton spoke to a group of 100 people in the tight quarters after she briefly addressed hundreds of people waiting in the restaurant parking lot, but the energy for Obama was a lot different. Obama’s crowd was louder, more enthusiastic, larger and more diverse than the Clinton group.

As has been the case in every other location, people who were on the fence as well as independents and Republicans were swayed to his side after experiencing him first hand. Indeed, as we have witnessed in Pennsylvania, the greater the time that Obama has to meet and greet the voters, the larger his margings become. Indiana's primary is still four weeks away. . .

Rally Video courtesy of Robert Rouse:

Obama visits Ft.Wayne - SOLD OUT!

Memorial Coliseum Campaign Event?

We've had Bill Clinton at the Grand Wayne Center; we've had Hillary Clinton at Sara's Family Restaurant; Barack Obama's campaign had their downtown grand opening yesterday. What could be next now that Fort Wayne is officially on the political map this year? Political Notebook reports that we may see Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton appear at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum before Indiana's May 6th primary:

One influential Fort Wayne Democrat let it slip last week that staffers for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign are considering an event at Memorial Coliseum in the coming weeks.

So what are the chances?

Coliseum General Manager Randy Brown said he has been approached either directly or indirectly by both Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign about possible dates.

“Nothing’s even on hold for anything, but it could be interesting couldn’t it?” Brown said. “I don’t know if it is even going to go anywhere, but I think it would be a lot of fun if it happened.”

Brown said both candidates, depending on the night chosen, would draw large crowds. But he gave the edge to Obama.

“Certainly Mr. Obama, I think just by nature of his popularity and people from Ohio and Michigan coming over as well, could easily do 11,000 people for an appearance.”

Fort Wayne Obama office

Some great video from Jeff Pruitt over at Fort Wayne Politics! Former Mayor Graham Richard heartily endorses Barack Obama and rallies the crowd in attendance here at the grand opening of the Fort Wayne campaign office:



Be sure to follow the link above for some awesome pictures and more video of the event!

Ft.Wayne Blogosphere Featured on NPR

Jeannette Dillon and Don Clemmer of WBOI-FM recently interviewed local bloggers for their take on the local blogosphere and it's impact on the political scene here in Fort Wayne. I was one of the individuals selected for this interview, but was unable to attend due to some last minute events. Robert Rouse graciously filled in for me, and did a bang-up job.

Here are the audio segments, courtesy of Mitch Harper at Fort Wayne Observed:

Local Blogosphere Part One

Local Blogosphere Part Two

A Day at the Children's Zoo