John Kilian for Obama

On Monday, MLK-day(1/21), I received a phone call from the statecoordinator for the Obama campaign in Connecticut that the speech I haddrafted for the purpose of representing the Obama campaign at the lastnight's (1/26) Middletown Straw Poll ( http://middletownstrawpoll.com... )had been reviewed by a wider audience in the Obama campaign and mettheir enthusiastic approval. At my request, my identity as the author ofthis document was withheld until after the Connecticut GOP Straw Poll inMiddletown on Friday night (1/25), as I was on staff for this event as adutiful member of the Middletown Republican Town Committee.Below is the text of the speech circulated under a pen name and approvedby the Obama campaign on Sunday/Monday of last week(1/20-21) andpresented by myself in the sanctuary of Middletown's Holy Trinity Churchat this year's Middletown Straw Poll:Often I take the bus from my home here in Middletown to where I work inManchester. I actually take two buses, one from Middletown to Hartfordand a second one from Hartford to Manchester, and the differencesbetween the two legs on my commute are profound. On the ride in from thesuburbs you have the professionals who are homeowners and the only blackface on the bus belongs to the bus driver. On the way out of the cityyou find the resident renters of our capitol city headed to their retailjobs at the mall. The only white face on the Z bus belongs to me. Thebus in is an express line, the Z bus is a local. The express makes goodtime without a stop; the local plods along slowly.When I get off the bus, one stop before the mall, I get off alone. I amheaded to a nearby of1fice building while the other riders are headed tothe low wage mecca that is Buckland Hills. High ground, but lowwages.From up there you can see the towers of Hartford, where the peopleon the express bus are working. The Z bus may climb the mountain top,but what they see from there is a view of someone else's dreams comingtrue. Someone with better education, more confidence, and greaterexpectations. Here, also, you find a divide between the people who aschi1ldren had two parents to read to them instead of one. And one lesspaycheck to support a child's college fund.All these differences are deep divisions that persist long after somelegislation proclaims to assure equality. My bus ride is proof of this.When I get off the Z-bus I feel as though someone should be there tostamp my passport. I have passed through Z-bus nation. My transfer fromthe express bus is a visa that allows me to pass through a differentworld free of charge. Free of charge, but not duty free. I feel the dutyto at least speak of the tale of two buses and the shame that inHartford, Connecticut in the year 2008 the buses are still segregatedalong racial lines.Some politicians judge the value of legislation by the amount of supportit secures more than the benefit it actually delivers. I look at BarackObama and I see someone who promises to deliver more than words. Thegreatest power over a person is the power to influence theirexpectations. Obama is raising people's expectations. He has raised mine.My life is as good as it is today because I fulfilled the expectationsof my parents. I went to college, then I got married, and then hadchildren. I shudder to think how many boys grow up without theexpectation that they will marry the mother of their children, and howmany girls grow up without the expectation that they will marry thefathers of their children. It is a crisis that unfolds underneath ournoses each and every day. And, as with all crises, the solution lies ina commitment to change. A bond with a better future begins with a desireto realize greater expectations. I think Senator Obama is the onlycandidate in the field who has the power to raise people's expectationsand garner the commitment to the changes necessary to realize ournation's most worthy dreams.John Paul "Just Like the Pope"

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm
Author: johnprugby

Length: 04:50
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Tags: Connecticut  Middletown  Obama  Poll  Straw  

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