".....in this defining moment in history ..."

"...on this January night, in this defining moment of history .....", said Obama after winning the Iowa caucuses. People like to be a part of history.

People are thronging to his events and rallies across New Hamsphire wanting to be part of this phenomenon. My friend and I went to the Obama event at Nashua High, just across the street from my home. She had wanted to be there early, but I had demurred, pointing out that candidates are late, and boy, was that a wrong decision.

We walked to the school, and oh my. Broad street, which leads to Nashua High, was jampacked, with cars inching along. As we came up to the school we saw the very, very, very long line to enter ...... a rapidly growing line at that. The parking lot had two press buses and was filled with cars not with NH plates but with plates from all over - MA, VT, NY, NJ - people were pouring in to see Obama. The line was at a halt, presumably because the first room was full. Around us in line were people clicking away, taking pictures of themselves in line, of the line itself, of the crowd in front of us, of the signs held by people. I heard one person say, "these are pictures I will one day show my children". Two youngsters from Boston could hardly keep still and were excited about going to the debate later that evening. And there were guys selling Obama stuff - pins for $5, T-shirts and caps with the Obama logo! It has become time to commercialize the Obama brand!

The line kept growing and began curving at the end of the long road. It began to move when the second room became ready, and we all filed in - all that was available in that second room were two speakers to hear Obama speak in the first room. My friend was very disappointed. This room was rapidly filling up too, the seats being all almost taken people were sitting on the floor. A very multi-cultural sense was in the air - there were several African Americans (I had not realized this many lived in the area), racially mixed couples, several Indians and other Asians. We ran into two other friends there, and as a group we also represented diversity - being from Indian, East Asian and Trinidadian heritage. What seemed to be a Spanish reporter/television station was interviewing people in Spanish.

Obama spoke in the other room and we listened. They set up a stage in the second room for him to come and speak for a few minutes after, and the crowd just swarmed around it. It was a good speech as usual, but again failed to fire me up. He talked about various struggles in the world, and how it was hope that had been a key ingredient. "Hope is what helped abolitionists end slavery"....... Hope? I think it was more anger, a sense from the down-trodden that they are indeed equal and should not quietly accept the current situation, and a sense of empowerment that motivated them to work (and fight) for change. Hope? I don't think its as simple as that. He also talked about how one should be able to go to college whether they came from a wealthy family or not, and invoked his own humble beginnings. Talking points borrowed from Edwards' speeches I think - he had not mentioned anything about the disadvantaged early on in the campaign ! :) He also talked about everyone getting on the change bandwagon - true (one only had to listen to Mitt Romney talk about helping found Staples as change to see that).

Everyone was getting very excited, and there was a lot of clapping and thumping of feet. Chants of "Obama, Obama", and "Fired up, ready to go", filled the air. People had come with their entire families with little kids wearing Obama buttons and stickers. When he came to the second room, everyone surged forward to get a handshake - a much, much, much larger crowd than just a few months ago! The atmosphere at the event also made a real town hall meeting impossible. There were no questions, 3000 people at an event does not allow for questions. So now people would decide based on charisma, how they feel, how they "like" the candidate, instead of deciding based on a substantive discussion on issues. Charisma and Hope sell at such times. It is harder to sell substance.

Hope is a powerful message. People like it, it feels positive. I guess the fact that Asha for Education was called "Asha" (meaning hope; Asha is an organization I volunteer for) had something to do with the strong organization it is today!

Is this the beginning of a movement?