Valentina Pasquali

Washington D.C. – If Barack Obama’s rise to become the 44th President of the United States was meant to prove that “a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth,” as the President himself notably pronounced in his victory speech of November 4th, the crowd gathered in Washington D.C. for his inauguration was a testimony to just how much the American people have come to believe in his promise.

In front of an emotional crowd of excited spectators – estimated in well over a million people — President Obama took his oath of office Tuesday, on the steps of the Capitol, laying his left hand on the same bible that Abraham Lincoln – the man who pushed for the abolition of slavery – used in 1861. Leaders of the House and the Senate sat behind him, alongside the new President’s family, former President George W. Bush with Mrs. Laura Bush, and a variety of celebrities of different ilk. Aretha Franklin sang, Yo-Yo Ma the famed cellist performed, and the Reverend Rick Warren gave a heartfelt invocation. President Obama avoided soaring rhetoric and chose a somber tone for his inaugural address, dedicated to calling the nation to serve and “to begin again the work of remaking America.”

The ceremony was not dissimilar to inaugurations past, but instead the day was made special by the presence of citizens of all ages and race, who had traveled to Washington D.C. from all over the country. They laughed, they cried, they waved tiny American flags in the air, and they braved many discomforts to seize their own piece of history as the first African-American president was sworn into office.

st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> In below-freezing temperatures, throngs of people took to the street from the wee hours of the morning. They struggled to get on the first overcrowded metro at 4am, walked or biked for hours before the sunrise, and then slowly made their way to the perimeter of the National Mall, where a public viewing area had been set up. There, they often discovered thousands more already waiting, standing in lines that zigzagged around whole city blocks. Nobody would be allowed on to the grounds of the Mall until much later and people had to stand for hours simply trying not to push and hoping not to be overtaken. The logistics of the day proved ineffective, and organizers appeared unprepared for such an immense number of people.
And yet, despite the hardship endured and the frustration felt, the pilgrims of Tuesday’s secular rite remained calm and in good spirits, acting responsibly and patiently, for the most part. Everyone seemed to be willing to accept the fact that, in a million-plus audience, getting even just a glimpse of one of the (few) jumbotrons broadcasting the ceremony across the Mall was an exceptional endeavor.

“It was absolutely worth it,” said Ernest Smith after President Obama had concluded his address. With his wife Mary-Ann he had flown to D.C. from Los Angeles to attend the inauguration. “There is this great sense of hope, the attitude of the American people has changed,” he declared.

Bobby Moore, a social worker who had traveled all the way from Madison, Wisconsin, had spent the night at a friend’s in Maryland and had embarked upon his trip to the Mall at 5am. “Initially I didn’t want to come, but my wife insisted that it was history and that we had to be here,” said Moore before leaving the Mall. The experience, he admitted, was entirely worth it: “Seeing all these different Americans together, everybody seemed nicer with each other. Blacks are being nicer to whites and whites are being nicer to blacks, it is incredible.”

With their presence, the hundreds of thousands of people that filled the National Mall echoed the words of President Obama and gave them poignant resonance, especially when he proclaimed: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” This marked the highest point yet of the special dialogue Barack Obama has crafted with the American people since the beginning of his campaign. Over the next four years, President Obama will be faced with many difficult challenges (which he elucidated at the start of his 20-minute speech). As he confronts them, he will be held responsible, probably to a higher degree than any of his predecessors, for listening and responding directly to the will of the American people. After all, they have wholeheartedly entrusted him with an overwhelming mandate to shape a new style of politics and to lead America out of its current crises.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Chicago, Illinois – The improbable political journey of Barack Obama, son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas, began in the far South Side of Chicago, in the mid-1980s. Obama came to Altgeld Garden from New York City to work as a community organizer – a fact the junior Senator from Illinois often liked to quote during his long presidential campaign. In this forgotten project ridden with unemployment and crime, he helped set up a job training program and a tenants’ rights organization.

Altgeld Garden comprises a few blocks of modest single-family homes and low-rise apartment buildings at the southern edge of Chicago, a public housing development stuck on the side of Bishop Ford Freeway. A solitary enclave separated from the rest of the city by Lake Calumet to the East, railway tracks to the North, and major thoroughfares all around, Altgeld Garden remains a place where outsiders don’t like to visit and even the police rarely ventures into. “We haven’t seen a taxi here in thirty years,” said resident Derrick White pointing to the few yellow cabs parked on East 131st Street on Election Day. Those taxis drove here curious journalists – most of them foreign and the only non-African Americans around.

Despite high unemployment, health issues related to air pollution caused by industries nearby, and another automobile plant — a Ford factory — soon to shut down, on Election Day the mood in Altgeld Garden was joyful. A burgundy-colored Toyota SUV parked by the curb played loud hip-hop music as a group of young people chatted loudly about the election, looking almost like they were waiting for “one of their own” to be elected President of the United States.

Mr. White, a man in his forties wearing black sweat pants an old white t-shirt and a black bandana on his head, works as a custodian at a nearby high school and is active in the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

He remembers Obama only after Obama’s campaign for the U.S. Senate of 2004, during which White worked the polls for him. Surprisingly, many residents here don’t seem to recall much of the years when Obama was a member of the Illinois Legislature, let alone the Senator’s history prior to that. “I thought from the start that he was a very intelligent man,” White claimed, “but I didn’t think he was going to come this far this quickly.” He hopes that President Obama will fix the economy and heal the racial wounds that have plagued this country since its founding: “There are no jobs here, people don’t have health-care. You should go to the county hospital, they started charging for service,” he explained.

White’s only fear is that history will repeat itself once again and that the President-elect “will be assassinated.”

Many people in this neighborhood share the same morbid notion. “I’m telling you, he won’t make it through the four years, he will be assassinated,” declared a positively convinced Michael Johnson. Mr. Johnson, who works as a forklift operator, believes that people here need more and better role models; successful people that can inspire them. Most importantly, residents at Altgeld Garden need jobs: “Big companies must come and employ locals,” he argued. Pointing to the silhouettes of cranes sprawling up in the distance, Mr. Johnson maintained: “99.9% of those employed out there don’t live in this neighborhood. We need to keep more money here where it’s needed.”

Barack Obama’s northward journey through Chicago – from Altgeld Garden, where his career began, to Grant Park, where he was crowned Wednesday night – mimics his quick rise to the top of the national political scene. He left the all-black and un-inviting projects at the very far South Side of Chicago in 1988, to attend Harvard University Law School in Boston.

When he returned to the city in the summer of 1989 to practice as an associate at the firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama had to become acquainted with a place known as South Shore. It was there that his then wife-to-be Michelle Robison had grown up. In many ways, Michelle represented Barack’s second stop in the geographical line of upward mobility typical of African American Chicagoans. Unlike Altgeld Garden, South Shore is a working class, mixed-income neighborhood, although still predominantly African-American. It is north of the projects and closer to the business district and the chic stores of downtown.

East 67th Street is lined with redbrick mid-rise apartment buildings overlooking Jackson Park — leaves of many colors fall from the trees onto the grass.

These few blocks of quiet and well-kept streets, proper although not upscale, are enclosed between South Stony Island Boulevard, dotted with gas stations and chain restaurants, and Lake Michigan. From the lakefront one can see the fancy high-rises of Michigan Avenue in the distance.

Doris Beard Wollman is a resident of Senior Suites, a subsidized apartment building for citizens sixty-two and over. On Election Day Senior Suites is also one of the designated polling places in South Shore. Ms. Wollman, a nurse who was put on disability and Medicaid after surviving a heart attack, is outside, enjoying the blue sky and the warm weather. Here too most people, Ms. Wollman included, remember Barack Obama only since his 2004 U.S. Senate bid: “I was impressed by how dynamic he was,” Wollman recalled, explaining that she immediately felt that the young State Senator was a star on the rising. “I remember when Martin Luther King said ‘One day.’ When I saw Obama speaking, I believed,” said Ms. Wollman. She maintained, however, that she chose Obama over Hillary Clinton in the primaries based on foreign policy considerations: “I felt that so many countries hated America and I thought that they would be more receptive of a person of color, especially in the Middle East.”

Someone who remembers Barack Obama since the very beginning of his Chicago political career is Yesse Yehudah, who ran against the President-elect in the 1998 elections for the Illinois Senate. Mr. Yehudah, who then drew only a 10% of the vote, is a lone African American republican amidst the stream of democrats entering and leaving the Senior Suites polling station. Yehudah declined to say whom he voted for this year, although he professed allegiance to the GOP. “I think Obama is a quality guy. I also think that God had more to do with his success than Obama himself. We’re at such a low point in the history of the United States and in the history of racial relationships, it seems like the country needed Obama,” Yehudah said. In his words, he is a republican because he is closer to the GOP on issues such as business development and family values. Yehudah also believes that the African American community, like the rest of the United States, needs a “two-party system and that it is not beneficial to anybody that blacks only vote Democratic.” However, he admits to being displeased with the direction taken lately by the Republican Party. He doesn’t like how “republicans set themselves up to be stereotyped as an all-white, anti-minority party, which they are not.”

Barack Obama’s final stop along the Chicago lakefront was Hyde Park. This is a much more affluent neighborhood situated around the University of Chicago, home to a long list of Nobel Prize laureates and where the President-elect taught Constitutional law for many years. Young African-American professionals reside here and work at the University or commute downtown, which is just north of here. Fancier high-rise condominiums sprawl up on larger residential streets with a view of Lake Michigan. Lovely single-family homes overlook the sports fields of the local public schools. On Election Day the Obamas voted in one of them; Shoesmith Elementary.

Ramona Storall is waiting in the school courtyard for her husband to cast his ballot. She is a forty-two year old police officer on maternity leave and she just finished voting for Obama. “As soon as we heard him speak, many years ago, we knew he was going to be a Presidential candidate. With my husband we joked about Obama 08 from the start,” said Storall. She hopes that President Obama will focus on the economy without forgetting the war: “I have many family members who serve in the military.” Rising gas prices hit her family budget the worst. Storall’s parents live in a suburb away from this neighborhood but it has become impossible to visit them as often as she used to: “We also had to downsize to using just one car out of the two we own,” Storall explained.

While she heads back home, a poll judge leaves the school for a short lunch break. Sandra Young has been handing out ballots to voters the whole morning. She was one of a large number of people who voted early for Obama. Young actually worked with the President-elect in 1993-1994 on the IBA Walles Housing Development. Mr. Obama was training people, among them Young, on programs to help families moving from welfare to work. “I hope that, as President, he keeps his word. I know that things are not going to happen overnight, but our people need jobs,” she concludes.

Finally, it was Grant Park — Chicago’s front yard — that witnessed the apex of Barack Obama’s political ascent. On Wednesday night, with the luxuriously lit downtown skyline as a backdrop, the President-elect drew an adoring crowd of over 200,000. Whites, blacks, rich, poor, young and old, gathered to celebrate his victory in the 2008 elections. “This is a good day, it’s the proudest day of my life as an American,” screamed Ray Krouze, a thirty-five year-old Chicago attorney.

“I feel fantastic, this is great for the USA and for the whole world,” echoed fifty-two year-old teacher Sharon Davis. Cat Brunson, a middle-age woman and a microbiologist, is “exhausted but elated.” She and her husband stood in line at the gates of Grant Park since 4:30pm on Wednesday afternoon to see Obama speak.

While Chicago celebrated in Grant Park, an entire nation cheered in front of television screens, in hotel ballrooms and in the streets. For a man with a middle name like Hussein who grew up between Indonesia and Hawaii, this was quite the improbable journey. “For the generation of the baby boomers who experienced the 1960s, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Reverend Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, this is the most exiting election in over forty years,” argued Evan Brandstadter, a retired Professor who taught American History at Cornell University in New York. Nevertheless, this Chicago resident worries that the expectations for President Obama has already been set so high that it will be all too easy for him to disappoint them. The metaphor Brandstadter uses to explain his concern is inspired by the 1967 movie The Graduate. Just to recount, the film ends when the protagonist Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) successfully pulls away his love Elaine Robison (Katharine Ross) from the altar where she is about to marry another man. The two elope on a bus, escaping the rage of relatives and friends. Once the engine begins to run, Ben and Elaine look at each other in growing disbelief. “Right at that moment,” explained Brandstadter, “when all the enthusiasm and the excitement are finally over, only one big question remains: and now what?”

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Chicago, Illinois – The sun is shining in Chicago today and with temperatures in the 70s this could be the warmest Election Day since 1964. With the tops down, drivers took their convertibles out for a ride in the morning and are driving around town while an endless stream of runners jog along Lake Michigan on the eastern edge of the city.

Chicago residents are also flocking to polling places and voting operations seem to be running smoothly in spite of the high turnout.

Even during early morning rush hour, lines were kept under control with waiting times that never exceeded the one-hour mark. In this democratic stronghold most voters are casting their ballots for Barack Obama.

There is anticipation in the air and the city waits impatiently for tonight’s returns. “I voted for Obama,” says Paul Walker, “If it had taken seven hours, it wouldn’t matter; I’d still be in line. I hope he wins.” While this service industry worker speaks, a woman passes him by and shouts, “Obama! He’s the only one.”

The mood around Chicago and especially in predominantly African American neighborhoods is cheerful. People hold high hopes and are preparing for a big celebration.

Senator Obama, who voted early this morning in Hyde Park, the neighborhood where he resides, will be speaking tonight at a mass rally held downtown. The Obama campaign and the Chicago Police Department said they are expecting as many as a million people to show up for the event in Grant Park.

“If he loses we are going to be in serious trouble,” believes Elsie McBride, a grandmother who just voted and is now taking care of her two grandchildren. “McCain would take on right where George W. Bush left off,” she worries. As many other African American residents of Chicago, Ms. McBride is also concerned about the potentially angry reaction of her community in case Senator Obama lost the elections. “I was talking about this with my daughter recently and we both agreed that there is a possibility that riots will break out,” Ms. McBride explains.

Ricky Johnson, forty-nine year-old employee of the Chicago Park System, is not as nervous: “If Obama loses he loses and we will just keep going,” he says. “I hope he wins though, people need jobs.”

Karyn Morrow, a sales clerk, is working as a poll judge today and is handing out ballots to voters. She will cast her own later in the day, once her shift is over, and she hopes that Senator Obama “will change bad things into good ones.” Although she concedes that losing would represent a great disappointment, Ms. Morrow appears optimistic and concludes: “I don’t think he can lose. It is time for change.”

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Virginia Beach, VA – Teya Kelley is twenty-five, and a volunteer for Barack Obama in Virginia Beach. Ms. Kelley came here from Washington D.C., where she works as an organizer for local union Unite Here – whose red t-shirt she wears proudly. “This is the undecided district of the undecided state,” she declares with some conviction. Since September, Ms. Kelley has been deployed, along with another 15 members, to this southeastern tip of Virginia to walk low-income and prevalently African-American neighborhoods and register new voters for the November 4^th elections. On weekends, Ms. Kelley volunteers with the Obama camp.

Perfecting Saints Worship Center

Known as the Hampton Roads, and nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, this region of Virginia just above North Carolina is one of the most fiercely contested turfs in this year’s battle for the White House. It is here that the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Suffolk cluster together in one of the most populated metropolitan areas in the state, home to the largest naval base in the world. Virginia Beach, the heart of the local military complex, went for President George W. Bush in 2004 approximately sixty-to-forty percent. Neighboring Norfolk, where much of the workers servicing the Navy live, fared in precisely the opposite way, with over sixty-one percent of voters choosing Senator John Kerry. Suffolk was somewhere in between, with President Bush winning fifty-two to forty-seven percent.

“I came to Virginia because this is a swing state,” explains Lystra Campbell from Maryland. Also a Unite Here worker, Ms. Campbell has been registering voters in southern Virginia since September and, like Ms. Kelley, volunteers for Barack Obama on weekends.

Ms. Lystra Campbell

The reality is that Virginia has not been a swing state in decades — the last time it went for a democratic presidential candidate was 1968. Since then, the state has trended consistently republican, especially thanks to the conservative worldview of the military establishment along the coast and the small town values along the western edge. However, Ms. Campbell is correct, this year is a completely different story.

First of all, the demographics of the state have been changing to the advantage of the democrats; in the last few years, while the more rural and conservative regions of Virginia experienced a trend toward depopulation, the more liberal suburbs of Washington DC grew exponentially. Also, thanks to the excitement created by Barack Obama, the 2008 election should witness a higher than average turn-out by African Americans, who have a history of low participation because of the belief that the state would necessarily go for the GOP. Simultaneously, republicans disappointed by the job of President Bush might be more reluctant to go to the polls. As a result, Virginia is in play. Not coincidentally John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have all made separate stops to various parts of the state just in the last ten days.

News coming from the Commonwealth is very encouraging for the democrats. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll suggests that Senator Obama is leading by eight percentage points over Senator McCain. According to almost all observers, this must be explained, at least partially, with the unprecedented ground operations assembled by the Obama campaign even in places, such as Virginia, where democratic candidates have not dared competing for a very long time. Over the course of the last several months, the Obama camp has opened over 50 field offices staffed with around 250 employees managing the work of thousands of volunteers. Virginia has the most field organizers to population than any state except for Florida. Staffer Christina Arrison, who is one of two field organizers for Virginia Beach, and volunteer Teya Kelley are examples of the dedication of the Obama foot soldiers: “I get about five hours of sleep per night,” says Ms. Arrison, “but I expect it to go down to zero from now on.”

Ms. Arrison Preps her Volunteers

Under overcast skies and in a cold misty wind, Mss. Arrison, Campbell and Kelley, together with Ethel James, a volunteer from New York City, are on their knees putting together yard signs. Ms. Arrison and her volunteers are waiting under the front porch of a small church pinned on the outskirts of a residential neighborhood. The Virginia Beach operations are normally ran out of a field office a few miles away. However, Ms. Arrison elected this non-denominational Christian worship center as the base for the weekend canvassing sessions. The church is one of a few scattered non-descript buildings along a major thoroughfare at the northern end of the city. Pastor Joe Flores, who is running for City Council, heads the congregation.

At around 11am, much later than expected, a church official appears, only to tell the campaign workers that a board meeting held the previous week established that running canvassing for Obama from the church ground violates its tax-free status. Politely, the woman asks the campaign to move their cars and flyers to the adjacent parking lot.

After a quick pep talk, Ms. Arrison dispatches Ms. Kelley to walk a neighborhood enclosed between Northampton Boulevard and

Volunteers for Obama Prepare to Canvass Decisive Virginia Beach

Baker Road. This is a solidly middle-class district, lined up with large dwellings and multiple cars per garage, and it is racially mixed. It is also one of the more contested in the county and yard signs for McCain/Palin compete with those for Obama/Biden at every street corner. Although until recently the campaign was talking to undecided voters – “If undecided voters speak with a volunteer in person, they will be ten times more likely to vote for your candidate,” Ms. Arrison explained outside of Pastor Flores’ church – this last week is mostly dedicated to getting out the vote, knocking on the doors of supporters to remind them to go to the polls.

As a result, the majority of the people who open their doors to Ms. Kelley are African-American democrats, many of who did not vote in 2004. Ms. Kelley’s job is precisely to make sure they turn out for Barack Obama this year. Despite an overwhelmingly positive response, Ms. Kelley worries that Obama supporters might be taking victory for granted: “People hear the polls saying that we are ahead and so I feel that we lack a sense of urgency, that we forget that the outcome of this election is still unclear.” Despite intermittent drizzle and chill air, Ms. Kelley walks for several hours and knocks on about sixty doors. She recruits a few new volunteers for the remaining days of the campaign, plants signs on the front lawns of supporters and encourages a woman with a broken leg and another who will be leaving for boot camp before election day to go cast their ballots at an early voting location. After her long day on the streets, Teya Kelley finishes her Saturday by joining Christina Arrison at her field office to make phone calls.

Ms. Kelley and Ms. Arrison Ready for the Final Stretch

The last stretch of this prolonged election seasons will come down to just this: long days on the streets of America turning out one’s own supporters. Especially in a place like southern Virginia where the numbers of democrats and republicans are practically even and where the outcome of elections is normally determined by turnout, campaigns are giving it all to increase participation levels by their faithful. On election night, for example, Obama’s foot soldiers will give up sleep to walk the neighborhoods of Virginia and place door-hangers in high commuters areas between midnight and three and again between three and six in the morning, so that even early risers will find a reminder that the time has come to cast the ballot.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Woodbridge, VA – Lodged in a non-descript strip-mall in suburban Virginia, L & B Pizzeria and Sports Bar was in full capacity on Wednesday night prior to the final presidential debate between candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. By 8 P.M., as other businesses were closing down L & B remained the only speck of light overlooking an otherwise deserted parking lot.

The Republican Committee of Prince William County was having a watch party for the last Presidential debate between the two candidates and, from early on, republican supporters from the neighborhood flocked to this Italian-American pizzeria. They bought memorabilia from the McCain/Palin campaign and took their seats at one of the light wooden booths; blue and red balloons reached up to the ceiling.

Republican Supporters Celebrate Sarah Palin

The nearly 50-odd people aged fifty and above, were on a mission — cheering on the GOP Presidential hopeful to the slogan: “Keep Virginia Red.” Prince William County went for President George W. Bush in 2004 — fifty-three percent to forty-five percent — over Democratic candidate John Kerry. However this year, together with Loudon County, Prince William is one of few key districts in play, which could help the Democrats carry this unexpected swing state.

Despite the most recent polls, which give Senator Obama a distinct lead both at the national and state levels, Sen. McCain supporters at L & B projected a positive attitude: “I think that there will be a surge; people will wise-up and understand that John McCain is the right man,” said Mike Graumann, a fifty-three year-old construction worker married to a computer analyst and a father of two. Mr. Graumann sat with his friend Joe Mazzoccoli, a sixty-three year-old retired hairstylist of Italian descent. Mr. Mazzoccoli is married to an accountant and has eleven grown children and eleven grandchildren.

With Fox News playing in the background, the two friends discussed their biggest fear — the arrival of socialism in the U.S. “Obama wants to spread wealth from the bottom-up,” Mr. Mazzoccoli argued animatedly. “They’ve tried it before, in Cuba, the Soviet Union and then Jimmy Carter. Socialism is the first step and then there is communism. It never worked,” he declared.

Mr. Graumann is concerned that, if Obama is elected President, the economic crisis will keep worsening. Along with most Republicans, he believes that the roots of the current downturn are to be found not in the last eight years of the Bush Administration, but further back in the last few months of the Clinton Presidency. “Bush only came in at the wrong time, but the problems began earlier on,” Mr. Graumann claimed. “The first six-years under President Bush were very good from an economic standpoint,” Mr. Mazzoccoli echoed him, “then we began feeling the effects of the reckless low-income lending that was forced by Bill Clinton onto Fannie Mac and Freddie Mae.” According to them, it was the Democrats’ attempt to increase homeownership rates and help low-income earners to buy properties by means of subprime mortgages that triggered the excessive number of defaults and, as a result, unleashed the worst of the credit crunch.

Although both Mr. Graumann and Mr. Mazzoccoli acknowledge that the Bush Administration failed to take steps that could have mitigated the extent of the crisis, they excuse this failure with a national security argument: “Republicans made mistakes, but Bush had to defend our country, that was more important,” Mr. Mazzoccoli said. “We can’t let these people come in, bomb our buildings, kill 3,000 people and not go after them,” he stated. “Freedom is not free,” Mr. Mazzoccoli concluded before turning to the debate.

Sitting a few tables away, Anne Palmadesso, a senior resident of Woodbridge, was also getting ready to watch the face-off. She expected Senator McCain “to step up to the plate,” and to tackle issues of character and personality right from the start. “Character is very important,” self-employed Ms. Palmadesso argued, “Because, as President, they will act upon who they are.” She does not trust Barack Obama and thinks the Senator from Illinois is not clear on the direction in which he wants to take the country. Despite being worried about the fiscal policies of the Democrats and about “Obama’s socialist tendencies,” Ms. Palmadesso is one of those conservatives who vote primarily on the issue of abortion. “I’m rabidly pro-life,” Ms. Palmadesso declared.

Pro-life values are also Lori Bower’s motivation in voting for candidates. The director of a private child-care center in Fredericksburg and a forty-six year-old mother of four, Mrs. Bowers brought the entire family to L & B to celebrate the twelfth birthday of her youngest daughter while watching the debate.

Sitting next to her husband of fourteen years, also employed in the field of education, Mrs. Bower was attending her motherly duties by going through the proofs of her eighteen year-old son’s senior pictures. He will graduate from high school in the spring and join the Coast Guard. Mrs. Bower, who voted for President Bush both in ’00 and in ’04, said she was swayed toward the Republican ticket only late in the game, when Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate at the end of August. “I really want to see a woman in office,” Mrs. Bower argued, “and Sarah is a young, fresh face who shares my values.”

Beyond adhering to a socially conservative worldview, it was hard to gauge exactly where Mrs. Bower stood on policies. She completely disapproved of the way President Bush handled the war in Iraq: “He went in with a mission of finishing his father’s job, independent of the situation on the ground. It’s time for him to go.” While hoping for a quick, but orderly, withdrawal of US troops from the Gulf, rapid enough so that her son will not have to be deployed, Mrs. Bower trusts John McCain more than she does Barack Obama, whose plan of withdrawal “does not outweigh McCain’s experience.” Explaining her distrust of Senator Obama, Mrs. Bower also made vague references to unfounded rumors that have been circulating in recent months about Sen. Obama’s supposed desire to be sworn into office on the Koran instead of the Bible.

Finally, Mrs. Bower pointed to the economy as her most pressing concern: “I know so many people whose homes have gone into foreclosures,” she said, “and my own paycheck has been held back a couple of times already because parents are not enrolling their children in my school anymore and we are short of funds.” However, Mrs. Bower didn’t appear to have a clear idea of exactly what policies she would want the next President to implement.

During the debate, the patrons at L & B Pizzeria reacted more passionately to exchanges on fiscal policy; they cheered Sen. McCain the loudest when he attacked Sen. Obama on wealth redistribution and government spending. The pro-life crowd made itself heard when John McCain pushed his anti-abortion agenda.

By the end of the face-off, the republicans gathered here seemed pleased with Sen. McCain’s performance: “I think the debate went very well, much better than the previous ones. Obama was on the defensive for most of it” judged Mike Graumann.

The GOP Presidential hopeful also met the expectations of Anne Palmadesso, who thought he had been forceful and upfront throughout the discussion. Joe Mazzoccoli joked: “I think Joe the plumber won it.” He also added that he was glad Sen. McCain had brought up the issue of Sen. Obama’s relation to Bill Ayers (a former member of the 1960s radical movement Weather Underground who is now a Professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago. A few years ago, Mr. Ayers sat on the board of the same non-profit organization as Barack Obama and Republicans have been trying to highlight this connection as a way to draw suspicions on the character of the Illinois Senator).

“McCain offered a lot of substance,” argued David Hahn, “he did a good job defending allegations made by Obama and attacking Obama’s policies.” Mr. Hahn, a property manager and small business owner with two children in college, has seen the value of his home decline by $300,000 in the last couple of years and he says he is mostly concerned about the economy.

He also attributes the roots of the crisis to the Clinton Administration and the subprime mortgages disaster. Mr. Hahn is wary of Obama’s proposed fiscal policies and believes that a Democratic Administration would raise taxes on people like himself: “I already pay enough taxes,” he avowed.

Despite being a life-long Republican, Mr. Hahn conceded that Sen. Obama also did a good job during the debate: “He is an eloquent speaker who speaks from the heart.” However, and offering an argument that, at least on the surface, might seem contradictory, Mr. Hahn claimed that forty-six year-old Barack Obama is too focused on the past, while seventy-two year-old John McCain is the candidate of the future: “The wind-chill is bigger than the rear-view mirror for a reason; you have to look ahead,” Mr. Hahn concluded.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Washington DC – Recent demographic trends in America seem to point to a realignment of the country along more liberal lines and, hence, should carry Democrats to a victory in the November general elections. Those constituencies who generally vote democratic are growing across the country, and particularly in the most highly contested states, while the pool of traditional republican voters is shrinking.

These, at least, are the findings of a recently released study, “The Political Geography of America’s Purple States,” that William Frey and Ruy Teixeira, of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, and James Barnes, political correspondent for the National Journal, discussed at an event hosted by the National Press Club in Washington DC.

While democrats struggle with the general white working class, they have been performing increasingly better with those white workers that have a college degree. In 1988, the margin the Democrats had over the Republicans with white college graduates was only 1 point. In 2004 it increased to 17 points. Moreover, and to the benefit of the Democrats, white college graduates are becoming an increasing share of the electorate.

Similarly, citizens who belong to ethnic minorities – and particularly Hispanics – are rapidly growing in number. Democrats have always banked on the support of these voters and, during the last electoral cycles, things have improved even further. According to Messrs. Teixeira and Frey, in 2004 the Democratic Party had a 19 points margin on the Republican Party with Hispanic voters. In the latest polls, this figure has almost doubled, to 38 points. Even more importantly, ethnic minorities comprise an increasing share of eligible voters in all of the states considered undecided in this year’s election, such as Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Virginia.

Thirdly, metropolitan areas are expanding, pushing the line between urban neighborhoods and rural ones further into the outer suburbs. Cities are by definition democratic strongholds.

Ohio is a perfect case study for the above trends. The Columbus metro area is the fastest growing in the state and has large populations of college graduates and minorities. As a result, in the last 20 years Columbus metro witnessed a 22-point shift in the direction of the Democrats.

Finally, while constituencies favorable to the Democrats are booming, those leaning Republicans are decreasing. Rural areas are among those where voters have shifted further to the right. However, they are also the ones where population is shrinking faster.

“If these trends fully materialize on November 4, if Democrats are able to elect young new Congressmen alongside the President, and if they’ll solidify these gains in the mid-term election of 2010, then this could be a historical election,” Ruy Teixeira commented; an election like that of 1980, which repositioned America to the right behind President Ronald Reagan.

In the meantime, to understand the factors that will decide the 2008 general election, National Journal’s James Barnes thinks it is important to keep an eye on Osceola County in Central Florida. Home of the I-4 Corridor between Tampa Bay and Orlando, Osceola has experienced a 48% population growth in the last eight years. Ethnic minorities have spurred the boom. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore carried the county, while it was George W. Bush to prevail in 2004. It seems like Osceola County might hold the secret to this year’s election.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

St Louis, MO – As Democrat Joe Biden battled Republican Sarah Palin Thursday night at Washington University in the only Vice-Presidential debate, many St Louis residents watched the face-off from the comfort of their living rooms, at a variety of private parties, and at a public viewing organized by small liberal arts college Webster University in the nearby town of Webster Groves.

A crowd of about one hundred students, alumni, and staff congregated at Webster student center.

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden, a Democrat who is now the director of the college’s public affairs forum, organized a free “watch party”  open to the public, with a giant flat screen TV, pizza and soda.

In the hours leading to the debate, most people expressed little faith in Governor Palin’s ability to engage in a serious discussion and expected a dreadful performance. At the same time, many were worried that Senator Biden would come across condescending and professorial.

Arthur Banks, a fifty-three year-old former restaurant worker now on disability, stated: “I know Palin will make a lot of mistakes tonight.” Mr. Banks, who will vote for Barack Obama because he is afraid that John McCain will cut entitlements, had watched Gov. Palin’s interview with CBS Katie Couric and was prepared for the worst.

A group of “neighborhood moms against Sarah Palin,” shared similar pessimistic views: “I think Palin will stay away from answering the questions, will relentlessly attack Biden, and will try to divert people’s attention from her lack of knowledge,” commented Sue Hyde. These women were also concerned that Sen. Biden could stumble, if he ever looked like he was patronizing Sarah Palin: “I’m really glad that the moderator is a woman – Gwen Ifill of PBS – because it will give Palin less ground to complain about being treated unfairly,” Jacquelin Bauder maintained.

After the debate was over however, most people agreed that none of what they had feared came true. Sarah Palin looked more confident than in her interviews with Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, and Joe Biden focused exclusively on attacking John McCain’s policies, never engaging the Governor of Alaska directly or taking on her personal positions.

At Webster University, the audience watched the debate intently and participated with laughter, applauses and booing. Almost exclusively Democrats, they often followed the hints from Joe Biden’s facial expressions in deciding when and how loud to laugh at comments made by Sarah Palin.

According to the majority, the debate turned out better than anticipated, both candidates performed above expectations and the discussion was more interesting and substantive than the first Presidential debate between Senators McCain and Obama.

While still disliking Governor Palin, many in the audience thought that she did a good job. “I think both Biden and Palin were able to put a few key points in,” said Colette Cummings, an employee at Webster, “Biden spoke well on the economy and Palin stressed energy.” Ms. Cummings is an Obama supporter and disagrees with Gov. Palin’s view on same-sex marriage.

Susan Napoleon was impressed by the smooth flow of the debate: “There really were no hiccups and pregnant pauses and they both appeared confident, well-spoken and knowledgeable.” Ms. Napoleon, who is the coordinator of the Dean’s Office at the School of Communication, will vote for Obama although she says she doesn’t trust him.

Thursday night’s debate helped her learning more about Obama’s running mate Joe Biden: “I thought he was a hot head and instead he was very confident with his viewpoint and just genuinely himself.” As for Sarah Palin, Ms. Napoleon agreed with the assessment that she performed above expectations: “She was very consistent with the image she was trying to portray as the Governor of Alaska,” Ms. Napoleon commented.

Although in her opinion Gov. Palin did not fully succeed, this was her way of trying to respond to the criticism that she is not qualified for the vice-presidency.

“I’m glad I watched the debated,” stated Kara Beckman, “it confirmed that I’m making the right choice.” A senior at Webster, Ms. Beckman will vote for Obama because he “understands the average American.” Ms. Beckman was pleased with Sen. Biden’s performance because he used facts and numbers to back his statements, whereas Gov. Palin “was just talk.” Ms. Beckman’s fellow student and friend Andrea Hale complained that Sarah Palin “dodged the questions,” and kept repeating the same campaign lines over and over again.

Ismaeel Snipes, also a student at Webster, will vote for Barack Obama because he thinks Obama’s economic plan is better than John McCain’s, because Obama is “truly in touch with 21^st Century foreign policy,” and because Sen. McCain supports President Bush’s policies. Nevertheless, Mr. Snipes is a fan of Sarah Palin: “I like her energy and her personal values,” he claimed. In Mr. Snipes’ opinion, Gov. Palin held her own throughout the debate and performed much better than he thought. Mr. Snipes was also extremely pleased with Joe Biden’s act: “He was never condescending, he was respectful, and yet he always held his ground and was Presidential. And he even became emotional,” he says referring to the moment when Joe Biden shed a few sincere tears talking about the car accident that, in 1972, killed his first wife and his thirteen month-old baby girl and gravely injured his two sons.

Almost unanimously people who watched the debate at Webster agreed that their positive assessment of Gov. Palin’s performance was partially due to the fact that expectations had been set very low, particularly by last week’s interview with Katie Couric. Not surprisingly, the only person who thought Gov. Palin had done a worse job was senior Kara Beckman and she had not seen the Governor on CBS.

As a conclusion, most viewers shared a positive evaluation of the whole of the debate, thought that Gov. Palin did a better job than anticipated but, in the end, declared Joe Biden the winner. A poll conducted among CNN viewers appears to confirm these reactions: 84% of viewers felt Gov. Palin outperformed herself, while still feeling that Sen. Biden did a better job overall.  51% to 36% thought he won the debate.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Paducah, Kentucky – Bill Rayburn came to this small town at the juncture between the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers when he was 19 year-old and had $19 in his pockets. $5 went to renting a room for the night: “I was one of 11 children and my dad was the town drunk,” he recalls. Fifty-three years later, Mr. Rayburn owns a pawnshop on Broadway Street, at the heart of Paducah’s historic downtown, and he says he is worth millions: “I made my money with the stock market,” Mr. Rayburn explains, adding that his investments are still safe despite the crash of Wall Street.

He put his money over a long period of time into the stocks of a regional bank with conservative lending policies, and this strategy has kept him shielded by the recent fall in the market.

Beside stocks, Mr. Rayburn enjoys collecting Democratic memorabilia from local and national political campaigns and he has a large collection of buttons, stickers and posters scattered around his store. “I was a Hillary fan,” Mr. Rayburn maintains, “but I will vote for Obama although I’ll have to close my eyes.” He believes that Senator Obama does not have enough experience in the foreign policy arena to be President. Mr. Rayburn also adds that he would like the Democratic ticket more if it was reversed, with Joe Biden, whom he deeply appreciates, at the top.

Mr. Rayburn is getting ready to watch the Vice-Presidential debate Thursday night, although he has very low expectations, especially of Republican candidate Sarah Palin. In Mr. Rayburn’s opinion, the choice of Gov. Palin will end up hurting Senator McCain in the long run: “Before everything is over, McCain will regret not having picked somebody else,” Mr. Rayburn argues. He also claims that Gov. Palin knows very little about foreign policy and that she looked “like an eight grader” during her interview with Katie Couric on CBS.

In Paducah, a conservative-leaning town, not many share the views of Bill Rayburn. Wayne Roberts is a waiter at a local restaurant, right by the riverfront. He will vote for John McCain although he is a registered Democrat (though the last Democratic Presidential candidate Mr. Roberts voted for was Jimmy Carter back in 1976).

This year, Mr. Roberts was swayed by Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin’s pro-life stance: “I don’t believe in abortion at all,” he states. Mr. Roberts especially likes Sarah Palin, particularly her straightforward attitude: “If she can do for the country what she did for Alaska, that would be wonderful,” he says explaining that he is not worried by Gov. Palin’s relatively short political career.

“She is my kind of a woman,” echoes Marcia C., a retired banker who requested that she be identified by her first name. “Sarah Palin is conservative, has a nice family with many children and she likes outdoorsy activities, she is just like me,” continues Marcia C. On Wednesday afternoon, she was part of a group of local retirees celebrating the ninetieth birthday of a fellow citizen of Paducah in a park near the rivers.

Marcia is also a registered Democrat, but identifies herself as a social conservative and is very often attracted to Republican candidates. Marcia does not worry about Gov. Palin’s inexperience because she believes that, at the end of the day, Congress has more power than the White House. Marcia’s opinion of the legislative branch is very negative: “If I take you, a good person, and I put you in Congress, within six months you’ll be rotten,” she claims forcefully.

A few days earlier, in Nashville, Tennessee, another swing voter named Marcia had expressed a similarly positive opinion of Gov. Palin. “I like Sarah’s raw energy, it represents the real strength of America,” Marcia Garner had said. A retired teacher, Ms. Garner has registered with both parties in the past and has often changed her voting patterns.

This year she will cast her ballot for John McCain, although she confessed to be worried about Sen. McCain’s age. However, Ms. Garner added: “I’m relieved that someone young can be there to take his place were anything to happen to him.” A fiscal conservative, Ms. Garner is not socially conservative and does not share Gov. Palin’s strictly pro-life views: “I don’t think abortion is a good thing, but I can’t really say that I’m completely opposed to it,” Ms. Garner explained.

Interestingly, Gov. Palin’s scant experience in national politics seems easily brushed aside. Conservative pundits might have started questioning her credibility, but conservative voters in general do not seem to care about it. And occasionally one also sees Democrats insisting that Gov. Palin’s lack of experience doesn’t seem to matter.

Cleopatra Lewis is an Obama supporter and says she doesn’t “know if Gov. Palin has enough experience to become vice-president, but I don’t think anybody knows if she is capable until she is put in that position.” “I’m hoping that my vote will count and that Barack wins,” says the 30 year-old African American hotel worker from Nashville. Divorced and the mother of two young children, Ms. Lewis believes that the media blew Gov. Palin’s family and personal life out of proportion: “Those are personal issues and should not matter.”

Voters in states like Tennessee and Kentucky are normally moderate to conservative. It definitely seems that, at least in the so-called Bible belt, only active, engaged Democrats worry about Sarah Palin’s credentials, while many other people either do not care or hold a positive opinion of the Governor of Alaska.

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism

Birmingham, Alabama – It is a hot southern Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama, and the downtown is deserted. At the foothill of the city’s high-rises, small groups of people stroll slowly on the empty streets and quietly into the side door of 16th Street Baptist Church. A brown-brick building, from the sixties, marked by a blue neon sign, the church stands at the center of a neighborhood of car dealerships, gas stations and auto-parts shops. Plastic bags fly along the jagged sidewalks swept up by a warm breeze. All businesses are closed in a sign of respect for the Day of the Lord, which around here is exclusively dedicated to prayer. Only the Civil Rights Institute next door–a museum commemorating the struggles that stormed through Birmingham in the 1960s and finally led to the abolition of segregation– is open for visits.

Contrary to the sleepy neighborhood, the basement of 16th Street Church is bustling with activity. Congregants are wrapping up Sunday school and preparing for service. Young girls wearing summery old-fashioned taffeta dresses stream out of their classes side by side their brothers in suits and ties. Elegant women stand on the laminated floor and compliment each other’s outfits. Two older men sit chatting on a fake 70s-style leather couch, while local notables in framed photos hang from the walls watching over them.

16th Street Baptist Church is a cultural landmark and a symbol of African-American Alabama. On September 15 1963, in the midst of Birmingham’s racial turmoil, a bomb exploded here killing four young girls. Reverend Martin Luther King spoke to a crowd of 8,000 at the funeral that followed. Joan Baez recorded the song “Birmingham Sunday” chronicling the aftermath of the bombing. And in 1997, film director Spike Lee shot a feature-length documentary, “4 Little Girls,” about the racially motivated attack on that fateful Sunday.

It is no surprise then that this congregation takes particular pride in the history of its church. “I’ve been a member here for many years,” says 43 year-old Marvin Hicks, a Birmingham-native who relocated to the town of Jamison, about an hour south, three years ago. Mr. Hicks still drives the forty-something miles to Birmingham at least twice a month to attend service at 16th Street Church: “This place has a good history, and good singing,” he adds with a smile.

Mass certainly rises to meet expectations.

Four women open the service singing a bluesy Christian hymn. The congregation rises from the red velvety benches and sings along; the more fervent worshippers dance. One of the four singers, a young large woman begins shaking uncontrollably as if possessed by unnatural and unseen forces. Her hypnotic quivering continues until she almost faints on the first-row bench. A man tries to reanimate her with a fan. The whole scene is repeated only minutes later, when the young lady resumes singing with the choir.

Pastor Arthur Price Jr. takes to the pulpit and asks his parishioners to pray for those who are sick, to pray for the country, the city, and the Presidential election. “Make sure you are registered to vote,” Reverend Price says, “You can’t be a member of 16th Street and not be registered; too many people have paid an awful price so that we could enjoy this privilege.” On a Sunday when thirty-three pastors across the country decided to officially endorse either John McCain or Barack Obama–in violation of churches’ tax free status–this is the only reference to politics and the presidential campaign in Reverend Price’s sermon, otherwise focused on the reality of “pain” which he asks his congregation to accept as just another part of life.

“I have Republicans, Democrats and Independents in my congregation. I certainly can’t tell people who to vote for,” explains Reverend Price, a native of Philadelphia who moved to Birmingham six years ago from a church in Buffalo, New York. He is convinced that this campaign will be historic no matter who wins: “As a congregation that is predominantly African American, we are undoubtedly proud of the Democratic nomination of the first African American candidate for President. Having said that, it is also exciting to think that the next Vice-President could be a woman.”

Rev. Price points out that there are only a few non-African American members of 16th Street Church, between five and ten out of a total of over three hundred. None are here today. His parishioners range, from the homeless to the cardiologist.

Despite the fact that 16th Street Church maintains a strictly non-partisan approach, Reverend Price says that he talks to his congregation about issues that are important. “We talk predominantly about economic issues, such as homelessness and equal housing for the poor. We also talk about the war in Iraq,” Reverend Price adds. The ongoing economic crisis has begun to take a toll on the community and Reverend Price recently started noticing that people are coming out to church less frequently, for example, cutting down on the Wednesday night bible study, and are giving less in donations.

Marvin Hicks is one of the members of the congregation who is feeling the downturn. He is particularly hit by the rising gas prices. “I work as a truck-driver all across Alabama and my gas bill is now about $600 a month,” says Hicks. His company pays him by the hour, gives him health care benefits, but does not pay for the gas he uses. As a result, the $600 a month must come out of his pocket. Married to an accountant, and a father of three, Mr. Hicks is an Obama supporter: “I’m going to go for change and stick with Obama,” he avows.

“I find the economic situation troubling, but I haven’t yet felt any direct impact,” says Valisa Brown, a medical researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Mrs. Brown has been a member of the church for ten years and she is here today, like every Sunday, with her husband, an assistant principle at a local high school, and their two boys aged two and five. “I found this church like many others do; I came here as a tourist and liked the Pastor and the things that were going on here,” Mrs. Brown explains.

She confesses to be very excited about the Presidential campaign and says that, had there been no kids, she would have splurged and gone with her husband to Denver for the Democratic National Convention: “If Barack wins, my children will only know a country where a person that looks like them is the President.”

Mrs. Brown grew up in a town in rural Alabama that relied on the logging industry and on a clothing factory that closed down while she was in high school. Her grandparents raised her. Her grandfather worked in a company that made paper products while her grandmother cleaned houses.

After graduating high school in 1988, Mrs. Brown put herself through college thanks to scholarships and earned a B.A. from the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa and a Master in Public Health from UAB. “I hope that my children will be able to see that there is life beyond Alabama, that their opportunities are limitless, that they can do whatever they want to do and be whatever they want to be,” Mrs. Brown declares.

Obama’s story, she think, will only help illustrate the possibilities.

Growing up in a community plagued by poverty, for both African Americans and Caucasians, she says she didn’t feel as many tensions in rural Alabama. However she remembers the day her grandfather received a Klux Klux Klan pamphlet in the mail supporting a candidate for a local election. “Racism is always there,” says Mrs. Brown recalling the times when she has walked into a shoe store for shopping and other costumers have automatically assumed that she is an employee. “I have a $200 purse on my arm, how do you think that I work here?” she says with laughter.

More than on the streets, at the workplace, or in school, it is in the churches that Mrs. Brown sees the strongest racial separation: “They’ve always said that the most segregated time of the week is Sunday,” she concludes before heading out for lunch with her family.

“This is a militant church, and it will be triumphant.”

Valisa Brown might very well be right. The Presbyterian mega-church Briarwood lies only a few miles outside Birmingham and it offers an insight into a very different reality. Briarwood, started in 1960, is considered the flagship establishment of the Presbyterian Church of America, an organization founded in 1973 by a group of 250 churches that thought that mainstream Presbyterianism was too liberal.

The congregation counts approximately 4200 members. The church includes a Christian school, serving 1900 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, and a seminary. In 1988, Briarwood moved to a huge $32 million campus on the hills overlooking I-459, and in 1998 a $5.5 million expansion was added.

This October construction on another $28.8 million expansion will begin. “We need more room because we don’t fit anymore,” says Stan Goebel. “We need new parking lots, more offices for the staff, and we are going to build a new 32000 square feet youth center,” adds Goebel, who is a missionary of Briarwood, and walks the projects in Birmingham to talk to people about Jesus.

As the sun slowly sets on the hilly suburbs of Birmingham, big SUVs drive into the wide tree-lined parking lot outside the church. Older couples, families with young children, and teenagers stream into the redbrick building. The 6pm Sunday service is only the last of a long series–Briarwood offers regular mass at 8am and 11am, and then so-called ethnic masses in Spanish, Korean and Japanese throughout the day. “At some point I remember learning that Briarwood has about 1000 weekly activities,” says Glenda Wood, a homemaker who volunteers at the church about 15 hours a week, and is shuffling a big cart filled with binders around the spacious lobby.

The inside of the church is adorned with a shiny-white plaster octagon, encompassing a large stage which holds the pulpit. Two huge flat-screen televisions hang on each side of the stage and during mass display the lyrics of the poppy Christian songs played by a young man with a guitar and a woman with a violin.

The TVs also display a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the points made by Pastor Harry Reeder as he gives his sermon. There is no mention of politics or current events in Reverend Reeder’s homily and the Pastor exclusively concentrates on complicated theological issues that are occasionally hard to follow.

The church teaches strict bible-based theology and focuses on missionary activity and outreach: “This is a militant church,” says Pastor Reeder in his sermon, “And it will be triumphant.” Briarwood is even known for something called Embers to Flame, re-energizing teams that this congregation sends out across the United States and the world to revitalize churches in crisis.

“We believe that the gospel of Jesus saves people. We try to reach out to others and see who responds,” says Reverend Harry Reeder who took over as Senior Pastor at Briarwood nine years ago.

Like Reverend Price of 16th Street Church, he has decided not to endorse a candidate from the pulpit today: “I believe I have a right to do it if I so choose, but I don’t think it’s fair to my congregation. We don’t tell people how to vote,” says Rev. Reeder.

But just like the 16th St. church, he also talks to his parishioners about issues that he deems important. “We believe that the sanctity of life should be protected, and so should the sanctity of marriage as the union between a man and a woman. Finally we focus on mercy, in addressing problems such as the AIDS epidemic,” Rev. Reeder states.

Briarwood has a set of ethnic congregations, created for those members who would rather worship in their native language. Nevertheless, this church has only a few African American members: “We are getting more diverse but we are not as diverse as I would like. African Americans are probably about 10% of our congregation,” Rev. Reeder maintains.

Tonight, only the pianist is African American. In any case, Pastor Reeder explains that he is not a proponent of the concept of race: “The bible says we are one race, people made in the image of God.”

While it is not easy to speak with regular churchgoers, one is immediately approached by many who are directly engaged in the activities of the church and who are more than happy to volunteer information.

Biker and missionary Stan Goebel, who came to mass in his leather pants and carrying his helmet, says he likes Briarwood because it is an encouraging, nurturing church. A 55 year-old son of a minister, never married, Mr. Goebel started his outreach activities in 1979. He sees the economic crisis hitting the poor neighborhood he walks and even the bikers he hangs out with who “are not riding anymore as they used to because of rising gas prices.”

Mr. Goebel admits to not having followed much of the Presidential campaign: “In general I’m more of a McCain man, because of his stance on abortion and homosexuality,” he maintains, adding that he also likes Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin because she is a sharp woman with good values.

Sitting with her three children on the next bench, 35 year-old Jacklynn Gothard is also a Sarah Palin fan. A graduate of Mississippi State University and a nurse at Brookwood Medical Center, Mrs. Gothard is married to a preacher who recently moved to Briarwood from Chicago, IL. “I will vote and I will vote Republican,” Mrs. Gothard states. She says her vote will be more of a vote against Barack Obama, whom she doesn’t trust for the “nebulous platform of change he advances,” than a vote for John McCain.

Mrs. Gothard doesn’t have a specific viewpoint on the war in Iraq, but she is worried about the economy. Like many others in this spread-out town where people need cars to go about their daily schedules, the Gothards have been feeling the impact of rising gas prices and have started clustering different activities together so as to reduce the number of trips they take. As a result, Mrs. Gothards will vote on the basis of issues such as energy independence.

As a Christian conservative, she also looks for a candidate that shares her pro-life view and her understanding of marriage—a union between a man and a woman. Asked about what she hopes for the future, Mrs. Gothards says: “I want clear-cut values; not a future where there are no absolutes anymore and our kids grow up without foundations.”

Originally reported and written for Washington Prism