Two turntables and a microphone

I went to the opening of the Obama office in Madison Sunday. Wall to wall crowd standing in the sweatbox heat and everyone having a good time. It was actually a cross section. There were the usual pols and the usual fresh faced and earnest student coordinators, but the vast majority were middle age, middle class homeowner types who didn't need to be there on a Sunday afternoon. Actually Gov. Jim Doyle called it just right when he said this is the election we have all been waiting for, possibly the most exciting moment in politics since Kennedy. That seemed to be the motivation for many in the throng.

Doyle, incidentally, has come a long way from his stiff and stumbling speaking style of 6 or 7 years ago. Sunday he was relaxed and funny and hit just the right notes. And the cool part was the music was provided by a DJ spinning disks. Jazz, techno, whatever. He had a microphone but didn't use it; probably just as well. But the music was good and the thought was even better.

It's enough to give a guy some hope.