my view

Hopefully everyone watched the Presidential debate Tuesday night that was held at Belmont University. It just so happens that Belmont is approximately 5 blocks away from my house, Laurel and I both have cameras we have been aching to use and there was a lot to photograph that night outside the debate hall. Instead of giving you the whole story in written form (because that would take 10 posts), I have chosen to highlight some interesting parts of the night for me...from my view.
This is what we saw when we arrived at the site. Belmont had been preparing for this debate for a long time and they did a great job. An 8 foot fence was erected around the entire campus a week before the debate, the decorations went up and then the event finally came. It was really exciting throughout our neighborhood and Nashville as a whole.
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As soon as we arrived on the scene, we were met with a huge crowd of people. Among them were the guys selling t-shirts for the candidates. The majority were selling shirts for Obama.
These guys have been selling shirts since 1993 and started selling Obama t-shirts in January of 2007. The stamp design is their best seller.
One of the things that surprised me most was that there were no vendors selling shirts for McCain, only against Obama (NObama, etc.)
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Some of you may believe that my next posts are biased because I am, unabashedly, a true Barack Obama supporter. In all honesty, because you probably also know that I do not beat around the bush, McCain supporters were lacking. For every 100 people supporting Barack Obama, there were probably 5 McCain supporters and 7 Nader supporters. I was really interested in the signs people created and the way they tried to get their message across.

These signs were from a group of Nader supporters. While I truly appreciated their message and agree that the 2 party system does not work, I was disappointed with the way they chose to get their message across. Instead of peacefully displaying their message, they yelled into a megaphone and chanted things like 1.2.3.4. We don't want your f*&%ing war. Their passion was evident and I am glad there was another voice there that night...if only my perfect world could exist and everyone could express their opinions through civil conversation.
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To be fair to McCain supporters, I have proof of the lack of signage. Hardball with Chris Matthews was broadcasting live and there was a huge crowd surrounding the set. These are some shots from the set that was really lively and interesting to watch.

**Please notice the two McCain signs at the bottom left of the picture, the two Nader signs in the middle of the second picture and all the Obama signs surrounding them. Get the point?
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This was a really interesting group of "protesters" who were supporting green jobs. Solar power, wind power or whatever it takes to free our country from its dependence on foreign oil and create new jobs here. Most of them road their bikes and I found it particularly interesting that a majority of the event happened in front of a gas station.
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The next few shots are a few of my favorites from the night. Please indulge me for a moment while I analyze some of the pictures from my point of view. Maybe you'll agree, maybe not, but at least give me a chance.

I don't know how well you can see this picture but let me frame the moment for you. A mother and son were displaying signs about the media being controlled by Democrats and lying to the American people. Speaking your mind is something I strongly support. What I do not support is when parents fill their children's mind with messages of conspiracy and hate.

What is the difference, you might ask, between this mother and the others who dressed their children in support of McCain or Obama? Well, those mothers are not making their children mouthpieces for anger and hatred but for hope and support. This picture is very symbolic to me and provides a visual for why this event saddened me. The child in this picture is looking up to his mother both literally and figuratively. Do we want to teach our children messages like this?
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The guy with the sign currently being hidden got a lot of flack. Some of the people from the Nader group even approached him saying, "We are not Obama supporters and your sign is offensive to us. Do you even respect women at all?" He continued to flaunt his sign as he had every right to do because in America we are blessed with freedom of speech. When he came upon a group women who were Obama supporters, he was given another talking to and then one of the women began trying to hide his sign. I totally love how this picture represents the past being overshadowed by the progressive women's movement of the current and future. This is the only sign that truly offended me from the entire night because it went beyond speaking your mind to offended an entire gender. I mean, come on, would you talk to your momma like that?
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You may think I'm crazy but I love this shot. Isn't this what we should be focused on? In all the chaos, the request for peace is what caught my attention.
My reasons for loving this sign are quite obvious. I probably wouldn't have highlighted it if Obama hadn't completely rocked my world at the debate when he put education in his top 3 priorities. Education is a word I have not heard uttered from McCain's mouth and trust me, my ears perk up when I hear that word.
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This was from one of the vendors who was selling buttons. A majority of the Obama buttons were sold but there was an entire pegboard full of McCain-Palin buttons begging someone to purchase them.

The button with Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr. struck me and let me give you an example why...
The lady sitting down in this picture's name is Vernice. She is 53 years old and lives in Clarksville, TN which is 50 miles from Nashville. I started talking to her about some of the signs surrounding us and she told me how she never imagined that she would see a black man get this far in the race for the presidency in her lifetime. The work and vision of MLK, Jr. paved the way for Barack's run for the presidency. Who could have ever imagined that in 50 years we could have gone from separate water fountains to a biracial man as a main contender in a presidential race? I wonder if Dr. King would be surprised by Barack as well.
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This next picture represents so much to me and while I would love to tell you why this picture almost makes me cry, I'll let you figure it out. Enjoy.