Pat Clements

I just got back from a bike ride – yes, almost 10pm.  I met a couple of friends down in Hillsboro Village where we had a few beers.  From there, we headed over to Belmont where the presidential debates were occurring, hopefully to catch a glimpse of the candidates as their motorcades arrived.  

What a circus!  At Belmont, we witnessed the most sincere form of patriotism – dissent.  So many protesters were down there protesting so many issues, it was hard to keep up with what everyone was protesting for.  A big group were promoting Green Jobs at powervote.org and they gave me a sticker that I wore.  I still don’t know what it is exactly.  Another big group wanted 3rd parties in the debates, and got in a big argument with some Obama supporters.  Everyone was yelling something, so I decided to yell to give cyclists 3 feet when passing.  It was pretty funny and my friends got a big laugh, and so did most semi-neutral people in the crowd.  We heard the candidates came in somewhere else and never saw them, but we did see the independents occupying the audience.

A cute little bald girl wearing a dress was there with a woman.  I guess she’s been having cancer treatments and her hair was barely growing back.  She noticed the rubber chicken on the back of my bike and went for it.  I assume her mother turned her around, but I stopped her and encouraged her to squeak the chicken, so she squeaked away, smiled and laughed.  She was so cute and so thrilled with the chicken.  I told her it used to be a dog toy and she really thought that was funny.  She did finally knock my bike over, but I didn’t care considering the joy I got from the whole experience.

So, back to Hillsboro Village for more beer.  From there, we rode across Vanderbilt to Centennial Park (where the Parthenon replica is.)  The AARP hosted a debate broadcast with a big screen, but the rest of my friends got lost and went home, so I watched by myself in the crowd.  Most of the audience were Obama supporters and we cheered and clapped every time Obama said something good, and boo’ed McCain when he said things that sounded like Bush, which was almost everything.  A few of us yelled "friends’ every time McCain said it – probably could make a good drinking game for the next debate.  A very small number cheered opposite, a very small number.

During the debate, the rain started really coming down.  Right before it was over I decided to beat the traffic, since I was on my bike the whole way.  It poured rain – I mean poured.  But, thank goodness no McCain supporters were out there driving or I surely would have gotten run over.  My rain cape kept everything dry except my feet and the wrists of my long sleeve t-shirt.  A short ride in the rain is a fine way to end an entertaining night.