On the Trail

We took the VIA bus downtown on Friday afternoon to participate in history. It was a beautiful day and warm. After a leisurely early supper at Fuddruckers we walked over to Hemisfair plaza to watch the setup for the Hillary Clinton rally.
Just two hours to go until the rally found a hubbub of activity. The Houston band La Mafia was knee deep in wires, cables, lights and sound boxes. Many men and a few women in dark neat suits and polished shoes were everywhere turning their heads in all directions. The top of the Fairmount Hotel had silhouettes with binoculars watching the area below. The Secret Service scanner squad was setting up and testing their equipment as barriers were being set in place around the rally area. A nervous group of white shirted TSA employees waited nearby to search the attendees .
The gates would not open until 7 and we found a place at the beginning of the line about 6. No one was admitted early. Not even Henry Cisneros' mother who tried to convince the SS crew near us that as a ticket holder she should be able to enter early. No dice. When the appointed time arrived, we had to jostle our way to the scanner, but managed to enter quickly and found a place on the barrier very near the stage.
Music that was much too loud was provided by a band from Houston until about 8. Nearby I overheard a SS man in a dark suit tell someone in the crowd that HC would not arrive until after 9:30. Not long after that the pep rally began led by Henry Cisneros. He certainly had command of his audience and of his mission that night as he praised Clinton and brought forth an array of backers to appeal to the tejano/Hispanic voters of San Antonio. He explained that a delay in the rally had occurred because of the funeral that morning in Dallas for the police escort who died last week leading Clinton motorcade and that HC would not arrive until 9:30 " or so"!(Well, our plans to take the VIA back home evaporated at that as the last bus on our route would not be waiting for us. It took only 50 cents for us with our senior passes to get to the rally, but the taxi drive back home was much much more.)
The crowd was largely hispanic and largely female. There were people of all ages and some children. I was surprised how many older women who didn't appear to be able to stand in a crowd for a long time actually did.
The supporters who spoke were eloquent in their desires to elect this woman who they believe will deliver their hopes into reality. Cheers followed their endorsements until on the barrier line whistles and screams announced the approaching motorcade. Not long after Clinton found the stage and spoke to the crowd. It is difficult to imagine how she or any campaigner maintains the stamina this grueling activity requires. She did it without any show of fatigue and with great enthusiasm not even diminished when the lights failed for several minutes. A large crowd crushed in when she finished to shake her hand, beg an autograph, and just be close. It was an enticing idea, but we chose to work our way toward the perimeter and head on home.
The campaign rhetoric often wrestles with the idea of change. For me this election has nothing to do with the idea of change in racial mindsets. That battle is old hat. Obama is a man with brown skin. There is no change in electing another man. Real change would be in allowing a woman to lead our great country for the first time in its history.