Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

…hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Tonight I met Howard Dean and heard him speak. About 250 of us showed up at a NH house party, including a bunch of cool Dean volunteers I’d met before and primary-blogging guru Dave Winer.

Okay, I want to blog this event for you so you picture being there with me.

First, you and I took our garbage to the town dump, because Wednesday the dump is open and after that it’s closed until Saturday. You carried the stinky bags to the garbage crusher–how nice of you! I had the fun of throwing cardboard and paper into the recycling box with a mighty THWOKK.

Then, we drove to Johnson’s Dairy Bar on Route 4 in Northwood, where I had a lobster roll and diet coke. What did you get? If you were hungry, a fat cheeseburger or maybe belly clams. (If you eat dessert there, watch out for their “small” dish of ice cream–it’s 3 big scoops.)

Then we drove back to my house to get my dog, who would rather sleep in my car than be left alone, and drove down to Manchester–NH’s biggest city. Once we got close to the party, Dean volunteers at almost every corner waved us toward Allied Avenue.

So if you were with me, we parked our VW and rushed off toward the party. We got stick-on Dean tags, and if you took my advice we stood in the street until Dean arrived so that you and I could really, really see him.

Lots of people were there. People I knew were there. Probably, people you know were also there. TV cameras were there. And suddenly Dean was there, walking down the street, smiling, being interviewed, being photographed, enjoying himself and the people talking with him.

If you were as bold as I was, you shook his hand once those TV cameras stepped back. Then we followed him into the Kelleys’ back yard to hear him speak. Dean spoke without notes, and covered a lot of topics. I also took no notes, but here are a few of the things I remember him saying:

• “I’ll have some fun talking about the President, but a person running for office should also say what he’s for.
• “The two things a candidate has to get right are foreign relations and the economy. Bush has both of these completely wrong.”
• “Fifty per cent of Americans no longer vote. We’ll win by giving them a reason to vote.”

The crowd loved it. I loved it. My feet are covered with mosquito bites–I hope you weren’t wearing sandals! Boy, I’m tired–aren’t you?

After the talk, we walked my dog, but it was no use. She still went wee-wee-wee all the way home. Oh well, it was worth it. Don’t you think so? Okay, good night.