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ravenSnowstorm. Not what I would call a storm, myself, at least initially; there was a storm the night before I left England, with howling winds and rain and broken twigs smashing against the window, but this is sort of lovely, snow falling thickly, silently onto everything, or at least I thought so until we went out in it. It's about ten degrees below zero, and I don't know how deep the snow is, but, well, it's above my knees and I'm five foot three and a half. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
narahttbbs persuaded me to make snow angels, falling straight backwards into snow so soft it doesn't hurt at all. It was ridiculously fun, but we didn't stay out longer than about twenty minutes. Today was scheduled as a day of doing nothing whatsoever, which has thus far featured talking about fic, watching The Voyage Home (which hathy_col has been trying to get me to watch for years - and yes, I get it, I am converted, Kirk and Spock and the twentieth century and the whales, it was the most fun I've had watching a film in ages) and not writing my ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
yuletide fic.
Yesterday, we went to Nashua to hear Hillary Clinton speak. We went as volunteers, so we went down early, getting there in the early afternoon and being given a clipboard to take names and stickers to hand out to people, but they did seem a little overstaffed. In the endnarahttbbs and I retreated to the volunteer seating, which was off to one side of the room, so we were pretty close if at an angle, and settled down to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait a bit more - she was scheduled to start at half four, we heard from other volunteers that we probably shouldn't expect her until five, but five o'clock came and went and we'd been waiting forever and it was getting a little ridiculous. Round about the time my toes defrosted, past six or so, she finally appeared. I said later that she probably gets a bit late at every event, and so by the last event of the day, she was hours behind schedule.
But she was very good. She was very good. Maybe it was because I'd seen Huckabee the day before, but the thing that struck me was how clever she is. I'm unconvinced that the American electorate as a whole really wants their presidential candidates to be so obviously whip-smart, but this audience was appreciative and so was I. She built momentum as she went, reaching a peak on her healthcare policies, which seem to be her crucial issue of choice. This is an odd thing for my ears, because of course I was born and socialised into the idea of the National Health Service; my parents are doctors, I lived in hospital accommodation until I was twelve, to me, healthcare is not something you pay for or worry about. The NHS suffers, the Guardian writes about it, people talk about underfunded hospitals and inefficiency, the NHS endures. I remember being indignant about the first time I had to pay my six pounds prescription charge, the idea is probably in my blood.
So I guess the idea of paying for healthcare, for people actually avoiding going to their GP because of how much it will cost, is something I'm interested in hearing about on the political level. Hillary Clinton's plan is, unlike Obama's, mandated - everyone in America will have to have some form of health insurance under her scheme. She's clearly afraid of "socialised medicine", but of the term, not of the concept, which I suppose is fair enough. But this issue, and particularly children's health, seem her true convictions. I was impressed.
She also spoke about energy efficiency, about No Child Left Behind (which I have now looked up on Wikipedia), "fiscal responsibility", and a little about women's rights, but no explicit mention about the upholding of Roe vs. Wade. I guess that's just knowing your audience, but I was still a little disappointed. She then took questions, most of which were healthcare-related, but one guy in particular fielded a particularly inflammatory question. I say question, but it was sort of a tirade - he said that his daughters were voting for her, but he personally thought she had been evasive about her opinion of the Iraq war, that he found her cold and condescending, it basically started out as a fair question about Iraq, then descended a little.
The response was: "Your daughters are very smart", to appreciative laughter, and a fuller answer after that. Her answers were quick-thinking, cogent and detailed, which I appreciated regardless of their content, but mostly I liked their content. Yes, I liked her. Not quite the real thing. But pretty good, regardless.
Afterwards, it was getting late, butnarahttbbs, who knows about this sort of thing, pushed me forwards to get a good place at the ropeline. I was a little - a lot - reticent, but I was very glad of it, because she worked her way around, stopping to talk to people all the way, letting them take pictures, kissing babies, pushing the secret service along (who were all suited buzz-cutted chisel-jawed clones of each other) and finally she got to us. I shook her hand, and said shyly that she'd impressed me, and I was thinking about law school here next year and hoped she'd be president then. Where are you applying, she wanted to know, so I told her, and she wished me luck. (And yes, I did put my money where my mouth is: I called her "Senator Clinton", just like you're supposed to.)
Sadly the only picture documenting the event is a little blurry, but I really don't mind. It was great to actually meet her, and hear her, and it's true, I do hope she becomes president. It seems less likely now, but still. I really enjoyed it, just as I've enjoyed just about everything here.
Back to waiting for the thaw, so to speak. The great thing about doing nothing is you're never quite sure that you've finished.
narahttbbs persuaded me to make snow angels, falling straight backwards into snow so soft it doesn't hurt at all. It was ridiculously fun, but we didn't stay out longer than about twenty minutes. Today was scheduled as a day of doing nothing whatsoever, which has thus far featured talking about fic, watching The Voyage Home (which hathy_col has been trying to get me to watch for years - and yes, I get it, I am converted, Kirk and Spock and the twentieth century and the whales, it was the most fun I've had watching a film in ages) and not writing my yuletide fic. Yesterday, we went to Nashua to hear Hillary Clinton speak. We went as volunteers, so we went down early, getting there in the early afternoon and being given a clipboard to take names and stickers to hand out to people, but they did seem a little overstaffed. In the end
narahttbbs and I retreated to the volunteer seating, which was off to one side of the room, so we were pretty close if at an angle, and settled down to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait a bit more - she was scheduled to start at half four, we heard from other volunteers that we probably shouldn't expect her until five, but five o'clock came and went and we'd been waiting forever and it was getting a little ridiculous. Round about the time my toes defrosted, past six or so, she finally appeared. I said later that she probably gets a bit late at every event, and so by the last event of the day, she was hours behind schedule.But she was very good. She was very good. Maybe it was because I'd seen Huckabee the day before, but the thing that struck me was how clever she is. I'm unconvinced that the American electorate as a whole really wants their presidential candidates to be so obviously whip-smart, but this audience was appreciative and so was I. She built momentum as she went, reaching a peak on her healthcare policies, which seem to be her crucial issue of choice. This is an odd thing for my ears, because of course I was born and socialised into the idea of the National Health Service; my parents are doctors, I lived in hospital accommodation until I was twelve, to me, healthcare is not something you pay for or worry about. The NHS suffers, the Guardian writes about it, people talk about underfunded hospitals and inefficiency, the NHS endures. I remember being indignant about the first time I had to pay my six pounds prescription charge, the idea is probably in my blood.
So I guess the idea of paying for healthcare, for people actually avoiding going to their GP because of how much it will cost, is something I'm interested in hearing about on the political level. Hillary Clinton's plan is, unlike Obama's, mandated - everyone in America will have to have some form of health insurance under her scheme. She's clearly afraid of "socialised medicine", but of the term, not of the concept, which I suppose is fair enough. But this issue, and particularly children's health, seem her true convictions. I was impressed.
She also spoke about energy efficiency, about No Child Left Behind (which I have now looked up on Wikipedia), "fiscal responsibility", and a little about women's rights, but no explicit mention about the upholding of Roe vs. Wade. I guess that's just knowing your audience, but I was still a little disappointed. She then took questions, most of which were healthcare-related, but one guy in particular fielded a particularly inflammatory question. I say question, but it was sort of a tirade - he said that his daughters were voting for her, but he personally thought she had been evasive about her opinion of the Iraq war, that he found her cold and condescending, it basically started out as a fair question about Iraq, then descended a little.
The response was: "Your daughters are very smart", to appreciative laughter, and a fuller answer after that. Her answers were quick-thinking, cogent and detailed, which I appreciated regardless of their content, but mostly I liked their content. Yes, I liked her. Not quite the real thing. But pretty good, regardless.
Afterwards, it was getting late, but
narahttbbs, who knows about this sort of thing, pushed me forwards to get a good place at the ropeline. I was a little - a lot - reticent, but I was very glad of it, because she worked her way around, stopping to talk to people all the way, letting them take pictures, kissing babies, pushing the secret service along (who were all suited buzz-cutted chisel-jawed clones of each other) and finally she got to us. I shook her hand, and said shyly that she'd impressed me, and I was thinking about law school here next year and hoped she'd be president then. Where are you applying, she wanted to know, so I told her, and she wished me luck. (And yes, I did put my money where my mouth is: I called her "Senator Clinton", just like you're supposed to.)Sadly the only picture documenting the event is a little blurry, but I really don't mind. It was great to actually meet her, and hear her, and it's true, I do hope she becomes president. It seems less likely now, but still. I really enjoyed it, just as I've enjoyed just about everything here.
Back to waiting for the thaw, so to speak. The great thing about doing nothing is you're never quite sure that you've finished.
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no subject
on 2007-12-17 01:16 am (UTC)[pokes polling figures]
Depending on how you want to fiddle the statistics, there is currently about a one in three chance you've shaken hands with the next president of the US in the last couple of days. Which is a pretty weird way to look at things...
no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:37 am (UTC)One in three chance... wow. How are you getting to that figure?
no subject
on 2007-12-18 03:04 pm (UTC)Democrats, assume Clinton has a 50% chance of getting the nomination, so you've got a 25% chance overall from her. Republicans, Huckabee is doing astonishingly well just now, but this may not hold; assume he's got maybe a one in three chance of the Republican nomination, so a ~15% chance overall from him.
That totals 40% overall, so my maths was out. Mind you, my estimates are guaranteed to be even further out, so it doesn't make much difference :-)
no subject
on 2007-12-17 03:56 am (UTC)That's so cool that you spoke to "Senator Clinton"! It's really interesting to hear your thoughts on her. Thank you - and what an awesome story!
no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:38 am (UTC)I saw that rant, yes! It's a very important issue however you look at it, I think. And you're welcome, of course - I'm having a blast being able to tell the story. :)
no subject
on 2007-12-17 07:55 am (UTC)xx
no subject
on 2007-12-17 09:54 am (UTC)Still jealous of your snow...
no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:40 am (UTC)With windchill, eighteen degrees below zero. Still jealous? :)
no subject
on 2007-12-18 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-17 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-17 11:08 am (UTC)Also - I remember being indignant about the first time I had to pay my six pounds prescription charge, the idea is probably in my blood - yep, me too.
no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-17 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-17 08:01 pm (UTC)Go you!
no subject
on 2007-12-18 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-19 07:38 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-30 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2007-12-19 07:39 am (UTC)