Rally up

Only a short post because I have to get ready before heading to work within the hour, but lots of exciting things happening in the next few days. Mostly, there's a Democratic debate tonight at UT and Barack Obama is holding a public rally downtown tomorrow night. The political juices started flowing and I voted early tonight and registered to go to the rally, which is technically my first such event, at least in this country.

When I was living in Alicante, Spain, roommate Rachel and I went to hear Jose Louis Zapatero campaigning for the presidency. He spoke at a rally in Alicante so packed with people that we had to stand outside. This was just days before the March 11 attacks, in which 191 people died in blasts at several train stations in Madrid. A few days later, Zapatero upset Jose Maria Anzar (at the time, one of Bush's remaining allies in Europe). It was an exciting time for Spain, a country still reeling from decades of living under a dictator, Francisco Franco, who was a longtime Castro friend.

I'm just now feeling that sort of excitement about politics in my own country. No time to split hairs about why I'm supporting Obama over Clinton (more on that later, I'm sure), but both candidates represent a change from the current administration, which is plenty for me to get revved up about.