Hawaii-born Sen. Barack Obama is in town. And it’s going to be chaos.
The Obama campaign announced late yesterday that the presidential candidate and his wife, Michelle, would make a *FREE* public appearance at Ke‘ehi Lagoon Beach Park at 12:30 p.m. today.
That’s good news for folks who were grumbling about a previously announced fundraiser dinner for the candidate — at $2,300 a plate.
Obama is scheduled to talk to media at the airport at 2 p.m. before heading to the park, so we’re expecting him there at 3 p.m. at the earliest.
Day 4 of the UNITY convention. I’ll be hearing Obama speak at McCormick place tomorrow and we’ve been told the place will be on lockdown during the entire session. It will also be televised live at 11 a.m. CDT.
More info:
Obama’s appearance will be his first public address after returning from his trip to Europe and the Middle East. Only attendees of the UNITY convention and working press who received prior press credentials will be permitted to attend.
Obama will take questions from a panel of journalists moderated by Suzanne Malveaux, CNN anchor, and Romesh Ratnesar, world editor, TIME magazine. The panel of questioners include John Yang, White House correspondent, NBC News, representing the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA); Leonard Pitts, Jr., columnist, The Miami Herald, representing the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Dianne Solis, senior writer, The Dallas Morning News, and representing the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ); and Brian Bull, assistant news director, Wisconsin Public Radio, representing the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).
UNITY also asked Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to speak at the conference. The McCain campaign declined the invitation, citing scheduling conflicts.
All are excellent panelists, and it should be interesting to hear Obama’s comments on his trip. I had wanted to live blog the speech, but they’re not allowing cameras and I doubt that means they’re allowing laptops.
The last official day of the convention is tomorrow but seminars and the career expo concluded today. Interestingly, because the Obama campaign confirmed last-minute (just days before the convention), many attendees already made arrangements to leave town today or early tomorrow. I overheard one person worrying about whether they would be able to fill all the seats, since they’ll only be letting convention attendees with badges and credentialed media through. I’m sure there won’t be a problem. This is (the other) Obama Country, after all.
Story from the AP on whether it’s OK for 7,000 minority journalists to show some enthusiasm for the man who could be the first black president.
The folks here are very conscious of that. Here’s an excerpt from an email sent to all attendees this evening:
Every effort should be made to maintain professional decorum during the event, especially since it will be broadcast to millions of people who will be watching an audience of journalists listening to comments of a political candidate for the U.S. presidency.
So please, no panty-throwing. Whatever happens, look for a blog post after!
A special mahalo to everyone who read and left comments about my last post, regarding my grandmother. Between losing her on Tuesday, and learning that we’d soon say goodbye to 54 talented co-workers at the Advertiser on Wednesday, it’s been a rough last couple days. Reading your kind words was an uplifting way to end this work week and start the weekend.
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On a somewhat happier note, I’ll be leaving Monday evening for UNITY ‘08 in Chicago, a five-day quadrennial journalism convention and the largest gathering of journalists in the world. The last UNITY convention, held in Washington, D.C. in 2004, attracted more than 8,000 registrants.
This year’s attendees received official word today that Sen. Barack Obama will appear at the CNN/Time Presidential Candidates’ Forum as part of the convention next Sunday. UNITY is still awaiting official confirmation from Sen. John McCain. Both candidates had conflicts with the original July 24 forum date. It will likely be Obama’s first national appearance after returning from a high-profile trip to Europe and the Middle East.
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Also, welcome to newest Advertiser blogger, U.S. Olympic judoka Taylor Takata (a fellow Iolani alum and Quarterlife-r), now blogging at Olympic Dream.
The Pan-Pacific Festival created traffic havoc in my neighborhood today, but rather than flee to another part of the island, I decided to venture to Kalakaua and check out the parade this afternoon.
There were lions. There was taiko. There were hula troupes from Japan, which had added a slightly odd, but very spirited clapping to the traditional Hawaiian dance.
There were also the Obama Girls. No, not skin-bearing Amber Lee Ettinger of “I Got a Crush on Obama” fame, I’m talking about the REAL Obama Girls — from Obama, Japan.
Obama Girls: “We come from Obama city in Japan.” (Love the guy in green leading with the sign.)
Since one Obama has exploded on the national and international scene, the other Obama, a fishing town of about 32,000 in central Japan, has enthusiastically showered support upon the presidential candidate with “I Love Obama” t-shirts, Obama bean cakes, which bear his likeness, and recently, the hula-dancing Obama Girls. Although they cannot vote in November, they seek to promote relations between Obama, Japan and Hawaii.
“Obama” in Japanese means “small shore.”
In March, MSNBC reported that Barack Obama sent a thank-you letter to the town — but officials, in true Japanese fashion, were still trying to find out if it was authentic:
Town officials said they believed the letter was genuine, although they had not verified it. They said they were concerned that it would be impolite to ask the candidate’s office.
At first, I couldn’t believe CNN would devote an entire segment to the fist-bump Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, shared after their victory yesterday.
Then I watched the YouTube replay, and went: “Awww.”
Maybe it was the excess estrogen I was recently exposed to, having watched the “Sex & The City” movie at Ward just a few days ago. Something about now much-talked-about fist-bump just got me. It was both playful and romantic, and showed a mutual admiration and appreciation that said, “We did it.”
You gotta admire Michelle Obama. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, her resume is packed with accomplishments. One wonders how much of her own career and life goals she has had to put aside for her husband’s dreams. Gone are the days when politicians’ wives were empty trophies to be trotted out at campaign functions — and thank goodness for that.
It seems the fist-bump isn’t only about being “with it,” it also suggests equality and teamwork in a relationship. Is it only a matter of time before it replaces the safe hug, the sometimes awkward “get-a-room” smooch, or the polite peck-on-the-cheek?
