My husband & I who were very active supporters of John Edwards were asked if we would volunteer to drive cars in the Elizabeth Edwards motorcade when she was here Monday night through Tuesday. Since we'll do anything for Elizabeth we said sure without a second thought. What follows is a description of our "adventure" and my impressions of the process.
So we were at the Debate watching party Friday night and the people in charge of Elizabeth's visit on Tuesday asked us if we would drive in the motorcade. When we said yes they said "great we'll send your info to the Secret Service" The Secret Service was going to check us out! I felt instantly guilty and Nixon's enemy's list came to mind. I never actually made it but I wanted to, would the Secret Service find that out? How deep would they go? Would they review my blog entries? I sweated that until the agent handed us our little pins Monday night. I drove the van, John drove the luggage car. The secret service had several vehicles. Our mission was to drive from the Lakes Region to the Concord Airport, pick up Elizabeth Edwards and her entourage then bring them back to the hotel. The following morning we returned to the hotel to pick everyone up and drive them to an event in Laconia, an event in Concord then back to the airport. Simple, right! This is an amazing operation, which requires numerous people and an incredible amount of electronic equipment. Cell phones & laptops and blackberries (sp?) and that doesn't include the Secret Service. While waiting at the airport (we did lots of waiting) I watched a secret service agent remove his jacket and clip on a radio thing with a wire going up his back to his ear. I was sorely tempted to put my window down and ask him if that was what George W. was wearing during the debate. The gun I saw when his jacket was off intimidated me enough to keep my little joke to myself.
We arrived at the airport 40 minutes before the plane touched down. The weather was clear crisp cold New Hampshire fall. The sky was full of stars and there was nothing going on at the airport except us waiting for the plane. We chatted with Kera, the young woman from "advance" and learned about the energy and talent that is poured into each event. Then, the plane was there and it was time to follow the Secret service vehicles. John asked if there was anything he needed to do and Kera said, "just be ready to pop the trunk". John asked how to do that and she got out of my car to show him. A minute later the hood of his car popped. We were all laughing but it really wasn't funny because we had to drive now! You'd think we would have considered that earlier. By now I knew that we were not going to be driving Elizabeth and we were not going to be able to see any of her events. We were going to have to stay with the cars. The planes unloaded, Elizabeth was whisked into a Secret Service vehicle and a young woman sat in the furthest back seat of the van, turned on her laptop and got on the phone to yell, swear and complain to someone on the other end. It's interesting to me the different people who are involved in the campaign. Almost all of them are very young. That's not surprising because the pace is crushing. They are bright, articulate and idealistic. There are also a few who fall into the "self-important" category. My new passenger appeared to be one of those, or else she was completely crushed under the burden of her important job. Then, we were off. These guys drive fast and our job was to keep up. It was very strange to drive along roads, which we have driven for years at the speed limit, knowing where to slow down for the 30 MPH's at a constant pace which was well above the speed limit, especially in the 30 MPH zones. It felt surreal, it felt important. I wondered what I should blog about. We arrived, everyone unloaded and we confirmed our time for the morning.
We arrived an hour before depart time. This time we had a chance to "chat" with the secret service while waiting for everyone to be ready. These guys all wear suits, shine their shoes and take their jobs very seriously. It is such a huge responsibility. I found myself looking around and wondering if a crazy person decided to cause trouble where they would be located. It's a shame that our world is such a dangerous place. Although Laconia, NH is a very safe place these guys were as alert and cautious as if we were in downtown Baghdad. I for one am happy to see my tax dollars at use this way. It is money well spent. Everyone loaded up, John got all the luggage then we were off to the first event. Once we arrived and everyone had gone inside, we wandered around town for an hour then waited back in the cars for another hour. Kira dropped off lunches for the two people traveling in my car. Elizabeth decided to walk across the street to the Soda Shoppe to greet people. I wanted to roll down my window and get her attention but decided it wasn't the right thing to do. We're already voting for the Kerry/Edwards ticket and she didn't need to spend any energy on us. One of the reasons we were happy to drive the cars is because it was a way to help the campaign. I don't think the Secret Service was particularly impressed with this additional side trip. (Understatement) My two passengers got in and ate their lunch while I drove intensely trying to keep up with the Secret Service. Neither of my passengers were interested in talking to me. Especially the "important one" from last night. When we arrived at the event she opened the slider door and left it opened, walking off without a glance back. I climbed out of the car and closed it because it was very cold. I wrote a scathing blog paragraph in my mind about elitist snobs but decided it was too petty to use. After that event she got to ride with Elizabeth and the Secret Service and a much friendlier woman rode with us. John wasn't with us because he was dropping someone at the Manchester office and then bringing the luggage directly to the plane. Again, everyone spent a lot of time on cell phones giving directions or confirming information. All of these people were completely committed to this project of supporting this campaign. We are in good hands.
When we arrive at the airport John was there waiting for us. We drove out to the plane and were told to stand by the wing so Elizabeth could take a picture with us. Once everyone and everything was loaded on the plane Elizabeth got out of the car. She saw us and gave a big smile "I didn't know it was you guys!" She gave us both a big hug. I told her how proud and appreciative we are of all they do. They snapped our picture and she hugged us again. Elizabeth is a great hugger. We had told the advance people that it wasn't necessary for Elizabeth to spend any effort on us. We've seen her and we have pictures with her I'm glad they ignored us and that we had a chance to let Elizabeth know we were there supporting the ticket. Then she was in the plane and it was all over. We returned the cars, chatted with the advance people waiting for their next assignment and headed home.
We heard some interesting and touching stories from the trail. One was about John Edwards during the debate walk through sitting in the chair looking concerned. Elizabeth walked up behind him put her arms around him and whispered in his ear. He smiled and all was well. You have to admire a couple who has developed and maintained such a strong relationship. Another was about Jack Edwards getting into the bathtub and yelling "Soap is on the way" I'm still chuckling over that one and yet it's true. There's a tremendous cleaning job that is necessary and soap and hope are on the way.
For all of us, it's time to open up the floodgates and do more than we think we can. There is less than a month left to save our country and protect our children's future. The Kerry Family, Edwards Family and campaign staff are working around the clock and holding nothing back. Should we do any less.