I thought it might be fun to go to the Kerry Rally on the Seattle waterfront this morning. Not being ultra political, and not really knowing if I like Kerry or not (it’s a tough toss up this election) I figured it’d be a good chance to see what his mettles were and where he stood on some of the issues.

I decided not to go after standing in the rain for quite a while. Kelsey kept pulling her hood off, and my coat wouldn’t zip up around her sling. It would have been nice to bring her stroller as it has a really nice rain shield, but I was told I could not bring it, or her diaper bag (no bags at all). Come on. What happened to introducing our childern to the ideals o fdemocracy at an early age? Nope, only if you’re willing to get your kid sick could you go. With her health, that’s a chance that is just not worth it.

It’s a shame that 911 has locked down security at these events so tight that a mouse couldn’t get past the line of officers standing by to stop all random bag carriers (which by the way did nothing about the taxis that were gunning through the crosswalks across Alaskan…) I long for a day where you could go and have a damn picnic on the grass while watching and waiting for the President, much less a hopeful candidate.

There was quite a good turnout though. I was very glad to see that despite the rain there were several hundred folks standing, waiting to get in. Those with more fortitude beat me out. Although I gave up on Democracy for a day, there were several hunded others who di dnot. Some of which I hope are just starting to get involved for the first time.

The funniest part was the signature bombadiers. “Are you a registered voter?”. “Why yes, I am.” “Will you sign this sheet for ?” Geez. There were even lines of people for the same referendum following each other, all asking us one after the other the same thing. It got to a point where when this guy asked me if I was registered to vote I just played it safe and said no. My luck, he was there trying to get people to register, not asking for signatures from those already registered.

Some days you just can’t win…

ADDED:
Apparently, ( umbrellas were also later banned…