This is an addendum to the first day blog. After leaving The PPL last night Coffee Party’s founder called and asked to meet at an Asian American event. On the way there CJ Farley (Clear Lake Democrats President) and I stopped at the CNN Grill and Nnedike Ugoji, one of the iReport producers recognized me and invited us in.
You cannot say no to a free meal with a great company. I got a chance to talk to Alex Castellanos, my favorite Republican Pundit nemesis. We got a chance to have some small talk in Spanish (una charla en español). I told him that tomorrow I wanted to interview him on his views. It was late and he was leaving the CNN Grill. He said if I could get there between takes he would do it. It is a mad house out here and just getting around is an issue.
After our detour to the CNN Grill we headed over to the Whiskey River at the Epicenter to meet Annabel. We spoke about her trip to Korea and some new forms of activism she will be engaged in. She is working on another documentary. It seems looming in the minds of many activists out here is the drum beat to war with Iran. The expectation is that this time America has a past to reflect on that we must make them re-aware of.
After my meeting with Annabel, CJ and I along with four college kids from UT including Leslie Tisdale, the president of the University of Texas Democrats, taxi pooled back 20 miles to the hotel. Leslie told me that her folks owned land and wells and are strong Bush Republicans. She told us a rather funny story. When the family introduces the daughters, the eldest is introduced as the lawyer and other positive acumens while she is introduced as the Democrat. Leslie and her team intends to get the students at the University of Texas in Austin activated for the Obama campaign and beyond. I extracted one promise out of her. She will contact my daughter and ensure that she is politically engaged in the movement to ensure the young will have a middle class to aspire to.
