I’m headed for State College, PA (home of the Penn State Nittany Lions) to see the Grateful Dead perform a benefit-concert in Barack Obama’s behalf. It’s hard to believe it has been seventeen years since I last saw the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia. Jerry won’t be there today, but the rest of the band will, and they still have a great rhythm section. I’ll be interested to take in the scene at Penn State. The New York Times has a profile of the campus voters today. It won’t surprise you.
There is a conservative group on campus, the Young Americans for Freedom. A stop by their locked office on Sunday yielded no humans. A sign plastered to the door read: “Number of people at Ann Coulter’s speech: 1,200. Number of People lined up to have their books signed: 200 +. Number of active YAF members: 12.”
The scene was a little different at the Obama regional headquarters for Centre County, just up the street from campus. College students — alongside older supporters — punched out buttons, worked the phones and made posters. “We have 300 to 400 kids a week in here,” said Zachary Zabel, the president of Penn State Students for Barack Obama. “We all feel this is the most important campus in the country.”
I’ll let you know my impressions when I get back from the show. In the meantime, the coffers are a little low and I’ve only had one donation so far in October. If you like the site, please drop some change in the tip jar.
Let me leave with a little mood music from April 17, 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark:
