President Obama's Inauguration: Day 7

Day 7: January 20, 2009
INAUGURATION DAY!

Part One: The Swearing-In Ceremony

US Capitol Building, West Front

Today was really exciting. And it was COLD!!!. Fortunately we had enough hand and toe warmers for us, and some left over for the Coast Guard guys who worked as ushers for hours in the cold without coats. We wore six layers of clothes. We put hand warmers on our heads inside our hats. We still froze.

But if there is one thing I've learned, it's that if you want a decent seat for an inaugural event, you have to get there early. There are no reserved seats--for anyone--except the President, Vice President, and their families. For everyone else--even Members of Congress--there are reserved sections. There might be thousands of seats in your section. You're either in the front or the back, depending on how early you are willing to get there.

This is even true for big celebrities. I saw Dustin Hoffman in the section beside us over two hours early, claiming his seat just like us. Other celebrities were disappointed when they arrived later and didn't have a seat at all!

We were really lucky because our US Senator, Bob Bennett, was the head of the entire inauguration. He gave us an amazing section to sit in. We were sitting with all of the Tuskeegee Airmen (WAY cool!) They were really nice and so proud to be there to see President Obama sworn in.

There were more than a million people on the Mall (the long grassy area between the Capitol and the Washington Monument) to try to see the inauguration. Some people who had tickets to see the inauguration up close didn't get in because the security machines didn't work. It was sad that thousands of people came to DC from all over the country and didn't get in to the swearing in. But lots of people did. And it was a great show.

The Swearing-In ceremony started with a prayer and a couple of musical numbers by people like Aretha Franklin and YoYo Ma. Then the Vice President was sworn in.

The President is supposed to take the oath of office at exactly 12 Noon. This time, the oath was given a few minutes late. It was exciting when it finally happened, though.

Our seats were way up at the front on the capitol steps. But we could hear the people all the way down the mall by the Washington Monument cheering and shouting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" In the picture to the left, President Obama is standing with his family to take the oath of office.

In this picture, President Obama, his wife Michelle (in the yellow dress) and his daughters Sasha (in the orange dress) and Malia (in blue on the right--you can see her face over the rail) are waving to the crowd after he was sworn in as our 44th President. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, (who gave the oath to President Obama) is standing between Malia and Sasha.

Then the President gave his inaugural address. He talked about hope and courage. He told people all around the world that America wants to be their friend and that they should expect good leadership from their own governments. He also warned people who wanted to hurt us, like terrorists, that if they do something against us, we WILL fight back.

After President Obama's speech, there was a poem read and another prayer. When the inauguration ended, we hurried back to the Merkle's house so that we could get to the parade really fast so that we didn't get locked out.

TRIVIA: Until 1937, the Vice President took his oath of office in a "separate and distinct" ceremony from the Presidential Inauguration and was sworn in inside the Senate Chamber just prior to the President's more public Swearing In ceremony on the East Front of the Capitol (before 1981) or the West Front of the Capitol (since 1981).

TRIVIA: When the President's oath is running past 12 Noon (like it often does, and did this year) the clocks at the Capitol are stopped so that the requirement of a Noon oath can be "met".

President Obama's Inauguration: Day 6

Day 6: January 19, 2009

Today was SO much fun! After lunch, we went to RFK Stadium to participate in the National Day of Service. The Obama's opened the event. Then everyone was off and running in a sort of conveyor belt to fill goodie bags for soldiers overseas. The picture on the left is of Wes and one of the PIC (Presidential Inaugural Committee) volunteers who was about his age and was helping hand out goodies for the bag.

There were lines where you could go through and fill bags full of shampoos, toothbrushes, gum, phone cards, and lots of other stuff. Since I was still in my

wheelchair after my surgery, my dad pushed me and I filled bags for both of us. We figured out how to carry four and five bags at a time. Our family filled over 150 bags in a little over half an hour.

While we were there (over half-way through the day), they reached the 60,000 bag mark. I bet they filled 80,000+.

Getting bags with things that they can't get overseas will probably make the soldiers pretty happy.

Then, we signed cards to the troops and told them how grateful we were for their sacrifices and service. As a family, we met our goal of writing 100 cards. Our time at the stadium was a lot more fun than Wes and I thought it would be and I'm glad we went.

Later, the Merkle's took us for a special treat--to dinner at a great restaurant on the water in Annapolis. The food was great and it was a fun time. On the way home, we stopped at a fishing store to buy hand and feet warmers. It is so cold here, I'm pretty sure those will come in handy.

TRIVIA: RFK Stadium (named for President John. F. Kennedy's brother, Robert) appears as a location in at least four video games: MLB 07: The Game; Major League Baseball 2K6; MLB 06: The Show; MVP Baseball 2005

President Obama's Inauguration: Day 5

Day 5: January 18, 2009
Hi, this is Wes. Today, Mom and I went to the Opening Celebration for President Obama's Inauguration at the Lincoln Memorial while Dad and Will moved our stuff over to our friends, the Merkle's, house. The price for our hotel room went $500 higher today. YIKES! So our friends who live right on Capitol Hill, the Merkle's, are nice enough to host us for the rest of the time we're here.


So, anyway, mom and I walked to the Memorial and found our seats. The good news is that we had great seats because we got there early (most people had to stand up). The bad news is that we had to wait for more than two hours in the freezing cold for the show to start. I was so cold that I was begging Mom to leave when the show first started. But she put more handwarmers in my shoes and gloves, and we stayed. (Moral of this story: Be prepared.)

I'm glad we stayed because the show was totally amazing. We were pretty close to the front, so we could see everything. But we also had a jumbotron screen to the side of us so that we could see all of the bands and singers up close.

So, the show started with Bruce Springsteen. That was pretty cool. I've never seen him in person and he was great. Then the Obama's and Bidens were introduced (this picture to the left is of them together waving to the crowd from the stage before they went to their seats.

Then lots of other performers came on. And I mean LOTS! There were people like Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington who talked about past presidents, like Lincoln, Kennedy and Roosevelt and talked about things the Presidents had said and done to give people hope when things were bad.

There were so many bands and singers that I can't remember everyone. Some of them were Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crowe, Beyonce, Usher, James Taylor, Mary J. Blige, and lots more.

However, I only got up out of my seat twice. First, Garth Brooks came on and sang "American Pie" with a big choir. That was awesome. I know every word of that song. But then, they started singing "Shout!" The entire place got up and put their fists in the air for Garth. It was AMAZING! In the picture above, you can see everyone with their fists and cameras in the air while Garth dances across the stage in front of the choir.

The second time I got up out of my seat was for U2. BONO! LIVE! One of the song's they sang was "In the Name of Love"--definitely one of their best songs. This picture of me with U2 in the background. Our seats were actually more over to the center, but mom didn't want to block other people while we took the picture. The next picture is of U2 from our seats. They were amazing.

Yeah, it was freezing cold, but I think it was worth it to get to see all of these great musicians and stars in one place. Also, it was really exciting to see the Obama's and Bidens. Everybody was so happy and excited about the inauguration. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Trivia: The statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial shows one of President Lincoln's hands open and the other in a fist. Many people believe that the sculptor, Chester French, did this as a tribute to his deaf son and to memorialize Lincoln's signing of legislation that allowed the deaf university, Gallaudet, to grant college degrees. It is said that his hands are actually forming his initials, "A" and "L" in American Sign Language.

President Obama's Inauguration: Day 4

Day 4: Saturday, January 17, 2009

Today started off with Wesley and me watching a bunch of our favorite shows on Discovery Channel and History Channel (yes, these are our favorite channels. Deal. haha) while our mom wheeled and dealed to get us event tickets (all we had as of this morning was Swearing-In tickets). Having pulled that off, thanks to her new best friend "Jonathan The Magnificent", we headed to the US Capitol.

Since my dad was a Congressman, we can go into the Capitol even when it's "closed". So tonight we took Maggie (the volunteer coordinator from the Obama for Utah campaign and friend from school) and her dad on a private tour of the capitol. It's good to go at night when it isn't packed with people so you can see everything. It was also fun showing Maggie places that aren't open to the public. The first place we took her was the floor of the US House of Representatives. This is where congressmen debate and vote on legislation.

In the first picture above, I am standing where President Obama will stand to give the State of the Union address and where lots of other presidents have stood, as well. If you look closely, you can see Wesley sitting in the Speaker of the House's chair, and Maggie standing beside him.

In the second picture to the left, Wesley is standing at the podium that is used for the State of the Union. This has been the House Chamber since 1857. Before that, the House of Representatives met in Statuary Hall (also called the Rotunda).

Next, we showed Maggie the Speaker's Lobby balcony. This area is not open to the public because it is sort of a "sanctuary" for members of congress. In the Speaker's Lobby, you can find newspapers from all over the world. Members can go there and read a paper between votes. In nice weather, they can go out on the Speaker's Balcony and relax on a lounge chair with a great view of the city. There are also a few work tables so that members of congress can meet with each other and still be close to the House floor for votes.

Then, we showed Maggie Statuary Hall (or Rotunda). This is one of the most amazing rooms in the capitol. It is where the capitol dome is. The Rotunda used to hold statues of two important citizens from each state. However, when it got too crowded, the Architect of the Capitol moved some of the statues to the Brumidi Hallways that go through the House and Senate sides of the Capitol. Now, some of the statues have even been moved to the new Visitor's Center. The picture to the right is Maggie with the statue of Brigham Young that is still in Statuary Hall.

Before 1857, Statuary Hall served as the House Chamber. John Quincy Adams is the only US President to serve in the US Congress after completing his Presidency.

In the next picture, Wesley, Maggie and I are testing out the crazy acoustics in Statuary Hall that once allowed John Quincy Adams to overhear his political foe's whispers from all the way across the room. The story goes that Pres. Adams (who served in the House for several decades after his presidency) would pretend to be sleeping at his desk. In fact, due to a quirk of architecture in the domed room, he was listening to every word that was whispered by his foes across the aisle. Today, there are plaques on the floor that show you where to stand to test out Adams' technique yourself. We toured the rest of the capitol, then went to our friends, the Merkle's, house for a nice fondue dinner. It was a really fun night.

TRIVIA: John Quincy Adams had a stroke while sitting at his desk in the House Chamber (now Statuary Hall) and died two days later in the Speaker's Office in the Capitol.

TRIVIA: There are actually eight different levels in the new US Capitol Visitor’s Center, but the public will probably only ever be allowed to see the top two.

President Obama's Inauguration: DAYS 1-3

Day 1: Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
At the end of November, I had a surgery on my Achilles tendons and have been in casts on both legs for two months. So, today we left for DC to attend President Obama's Inauguration...and discovered how hard it is to travel with a wheelchair. We didn't rent a car for the trip, so we are taking the subway everywhere and walking (or riding in the wheelchair!) alot. It gives me a lot more appreciation for people who use wheelchairs all of the time. It would be very hard to get around town without help. I'm so glad I get my casts off when we get back home.

Today is also Wesley's birthday, so we went to Union Station for dinner. Our friends Pat and Richard Merkle, who live a block away from Union Station, met us there. It was fun seeing them since we're not in DC very often. Since I had several huge projects due before we left for DC, I was really tired. So we went back to our hotel, watched Discovery Channel for a while, then crashed. TRIVIA: Union Station (pictured left) is the site of President Obama's Eastern States Ball, as well as several other balls and dinners during inaugural week.

Day 2: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Today was a slow day. We didn't leave the hotel til 1:30 PM. Then we went to the Capitol to pick up our inauguration tickets and have a late lunch. We walked through the capitol and looked at the exhibit in th Senate corridor about past inaugurations. It was interesting to see what inaugurations used to look like. TRIVIA: All of the inaugurations at the US Capitol were held on the East Front of the Capitol (where the new Capitol Visitor's Center was just built--shown at the top of this entry) until President Ronald Reagan held his on the West Front (facing the Mall).

Day 3: Friday, January 16, 2009
Today we visited embassy row and Woodrow Wilson's retirement home (shown left). We walked up Massachusetts Avenue where there are lots of Embassy's from different countries around the world. Then we got to President Wilson's home. There we saw the interior of the home and a presidential china collection that was almost exactly like the one they have in the China Room at the White House. It was at President Wilson's house because his wife, Edith, actually started the China Room Collection at the White House.

Since I had casts on both legs, we got to ride in President Wilson's old Otis elevator (a picture of Wes and me in the elevator is on the left). It was awesome to think how many times he used that same elevator, too, since he had a stroke right before he left the White House and had a hard time taking the stairs. We spent several hours with the nice curator there, and my mom and I got some interesting ideas for the book we are writing together about DC.

After we left the Wilson home, we walked to Connecticut Avenue for dinner and passed more Embassies. It was fun to see all of the flags and to try to guess which countries flags they were before we got close enough to read the brass plaques on the door.

Along the way, we found this cute Panda painted with Chinese designs. Then we went to dinner and watched the unbelievable story of the plane that crashed into the Hudson River. That pilot was a hero, for sure. Today ends our laid back, "Enjoy DC" part of the trip. Tomorrow the real stuff starts.

TRIVIA: If you are on the property of a foreign embassy, you are theoretically on that country's soil. So, let's say, you are on the property of the British Embassy in DC, you are considered to be on "British Soil"--not American. And while you are on the grounds of the British Embassy, British law applies. So, theoretically, if you are walking along Embassy Row, you can go to dozens of countries within an hour's time--without a passport!

Election Day, Part Two: ELECTION NIGHT!!!

So, this was what all of the work was all about: Electing a new President of the United States, US Congressmen and Senators, Governors and State Legislators, mayors and city councils. We went to a hotel downtown to watch the election returns come in. At 9PM (after all of the polls across the United States had closed), the newsmen on the big screens in the ball room told us that Barack Obama was predicted to have been elected the President of the United States.

I think the happiest person in the whole room was the blonde woman in the picture above. Her name is Suzanne Gelderman and she was the Utah State Director for the Obama for America campaign. The girl with the red hair is a friend of mine from school, Maggie Flanigan. She's only a ninth grader, but she was the volunteer coordinator for the Obama campaign for the entire state of Utah! She was pretty happy, too. And she proves that you really don't have to be old enough to vote to make a difference in an election.

Another very happy person in the room was our congressman, Representative Jim Matheson, who was elected to serve another term in the US House of Representatives in DC. Congressman Matheson's son Will is only a couple of years younger than me, so he and Wes and I hung out while his dad was being interviewed by the tv stations and our parents were talking.

There were so many parties on election night that we could have stayed out all night and still not made it to all of them. But we were really tired, so we decided to go home after we stopped by a couple of parties that were at the same hotel where we were. On our way out the door, we ran into the Salt Lake City Mayor, Ralph Becker. We talked to him for a minute, then called it a night. It was a fun and exhausting day.

Election Day, Part One: The Polls

I am homeschooled every other day, so I was really lucky that Election Day fell on a homeschool day for me. That meant that I got to go to the polls twice: Once with my dad, and once with my mom and Wes.

First, I went with my dad. The ballot started with the President of the United States and went down from there to the local races. I pretty much knew who my dad wanted to vote for, but on a couple of the items, like judges and referendums, I had to ask him to point to the one he wanted.

On one race, my dad wasn't really excited about either candidate. So he told me that I could WRITE-IN a candidate! It was so cool. My dad told me that he didn't care who I wrote in, but that I had to take my vote seriously and write in someone who could actually serve in that role. In other words, I couldn't vote for Mickey Mouse or SpongeBob. I won't tell who I wrote in, but the person would have been a really good choice, in my opinion, even though they weren't officially running for office.

Then, Mom checked Wes out of school at lunch and I went to the polling place again with them. At the polling place (which for us is a funeral home!), we saw former Congresswoman Karen Shephard who served in Congress with our dad (the pic to the left is us with Rep. Shephard). Then it was time for Wesley to help mom vote.


In Utah, where I live, you get a thing that looks like a credit card that you stick in the machine so that the machine knows that you are a valid voter. Then you use a touch screen to vote for the person you think will do the best job in office. So Wesley voted for mom. It took about seven or eight minutes. Not long. Then we got something for Wes to eat and took him back to school.

Since it was only noon and I had already finished all of my school work, I went to the Obama for Utah office and made phone calls to remind people in some of the swing states (I called Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Arizona) to go to the polls and vote. The list in front of me on the desk is one of the three lists I called from on election day.

GO TO THE POLLS WITH YOUR PARENTS!

I can not believe that it is FINALLY election day! I'm about to go to our polling place with my dad. My mom is going to check Wesley out of school to vote with her in an hour. Take your parents to the polls and vote for the candidates of your choice. This is the most important thing that kids can do to make a difference in our country--get the adults they know to the polls. So do it! Come on...only a few hours left to vote!

Peace,
Will

Get Out The Vote with our new PSA's Featuring The Cab

Hey everyone, now it's YOUR turn to be a Kids Rock The Vote correspondent. Over the next week, send out our new Public Service Announcements (PSA's) featuring one of our favorite bands, The Cab, to your family and friends who are old enough to vote and help us ROCK THE VOTE!

If your local high school has a TV station and would like a higher resolution version of the PSA's to broadcast, let us know and we will get it out to them ASAP. Help us make sure that all of the registered voters remember to go to the polls on November 4th!

Kids Rock The Vote in Colorado

 Over our fall break from school, my friend Jonah and I went to the important swing state of Colorado to help sign up residents to register to vote by mail. The first night we met up with dozens of kids like us who were working to get people to register to vote.

The youngest worker we found was three. She was helping to get mailers ready to send to residents. There were more than a dozen kids who were ages 12 and under who were working on mailers, answering calls and dispensing the snacks to other volunteers. The kids who were over 12 were calling voters in Colorado and reminding them to register to vote. It was awesome to see so many kids involved in the political process.

The next day, Jonah and I got up early and went to a restaurant in Denver to meet other volunteers and get our lists of homes to visit. Then we went to different neighborhoods and registered people to vote by mail. I speak Mandarin, and Jonah speaks Spanish and French. Our foreign language skills came in handy when we spoke with several families who were voting citizens but spoke very little English. On Saturday, we got to have sushi for lunch (yum!). We walked neighborhoods for 8 hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday. We visited almost 200 homes and registered dozens of new voters and voters who had moved to new precincts. We felt really good knowing that we had helped to get so many people registered to vote in an important swing state.

KIDS ROCK THE VOTE AT THE ROCK BAND LIVE TOUR CONCERT

Hey! Wes here. I don't even know where to start except to say that the Rock Band Live Tour concert was AWESOME! The guys from The Cab, The Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco were so nice to us, not to mention that they put on an amazing show. It was so much fun. So here's what happened:

First, we met the guys from The Cab in their dressing room backstage at the E Center. Cash Colligan was really nice and offered to film a Rock The Vote public service announcement (or PSA) with us for high schools to upload and play on their school TV stations to remind first-time voters to go to the polls. Then, the other guys joined in and we ended up taping TWO PSA's, which was good because of what happened later with the Plain White T's. But, anyway, the guys from The Cab were awesomely cool and we had a great time hanging out with them.

Here's a picture of all of us in The Cab's dressing room before the show. Cash is the cool dude in the back flashing the peace sign. Alex Marshall is almost totally hidden by Jonah (wha?) and Alex Deleon and Alex Johnson are hanging on the right. Ian was very busy and important on the computer and somehow managed to escape the pic. And, yeah, three of the five guys in The Cab are named Alex. Hmmm...

So that was amazing, but then it got even better. We all got to go inside the E Center again for a special meet and greet with ALL of the bands. Yep, you heard me. ALL OF THE BANDS! It was so tight we couldn't even believe it. Only twenty-five people were invited to the meet and greet so we felt special. Here are some pics of the Kids Rock The Vote gang from the meet and greet:

The pic to the left is Hannah, Sarah Z, Jonah, Will and Me (behind Will) with the guys from Panic at the Disco.

Above right is Sarah K with all of the members of Dashboard Confessional.

To the left are Hannah and Sarah Z hanging out with the Plain White T's.

Below is Sarah Z with Chris Carabba, the lead singer for Dashboard Confessional.

To the left is Hannah with Chris Carrabba (he totally liked the girls more than us guys).

Below is Sean with our buds from The Cab.

During the meet and greet, we gave all of the guys Rock the Vote buttons and talked to them about Kids Rock The Vote. We were excited when several of the guys wore their Rock the Vote buttons on stage.

So after the meet and greet, I don't know what everybody else did but Sean and I played flip the penny for a long time while we waited for the doors to open for the concert.

Finally, they opened the door for the concert and we went to the Plain White T's merchandise table where we were planning to meet the PWT's again to film a Kids Rock The Vote PSA. One problem: They stopped my mom at the door and wouldn't let her take her video camera inside the center. Yeah. So, no Get Out The Vote PSA with the Plain White T's. That was a huge bummer.

But, anyway, the guys with the Plain White T's were really cool about the whole thing. They talked to us and let us take pics with them again.

So after we hung out with the PWT's, we went to go play ROCK BAND 2! Woot! It was so much fun. They had a competition where people could compete to play RB2 onstage during the concert, so we decided to do it. Jonah is awesome on the guitar, but he didn't want to miss the concert waiting in line to compete, so I stood in for him in the second practice round and it was so sweet! We scored 260,000 in the practice round and we were pretty sure that Will (who got 98% on vocals), Sean (88% on drums), Jonah (who didn't finish his practice round because the electricity went out) and Sarah (96% on HARD on bass) would get over 300,000 in the competition round and get up on stage.

But they finally got up to compete and THEN they told us that Sean was too young to play (you had to be 13). You'd think they'd tell you that BEFORE you miss 30 minutes of the concert. Anyway, yeah, so we didn't get to compete. But our practice round score even without Jonah was higher than all but one of the four groups who got to play onstage during the concert. Annoying....

The good news is that when we finally got in for the concert, it totally rocked! Our seats were right off the stage, beside where the bands walked up and down the steps to the stage.
So, in the pic above Shawn and I are rockin out to Dashboard Confessional. We were stoked when Brandon Urie from Panic at the Disco opened their set with a shout out to remind everyone in the audience (who's old enough, of course) to vote. So that was cool. In the pic below on the right, I'm lovin Panic At The Disco. In the pic on the left and lower right, Sarah, Hannah, Sarah, Will and Jonah are rockin and candling with the PWT's. The concert was AWESOME!

In this pic we're singing along with Dashboard Confessional.

Rockin' Weekend Ahead!

The election is only three weeks away, and we are busier than ever working with kids and first-time voters to ROCK THE VOTE! Tomorrow, we will be heading over to the E Center for the ROCK BAND LIVE TOUR, starring Panic At The Disco, the Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional and The Cab.

We will be getting together with the bands to film PSA's for high schools to download and remind first time voter students to go to the polls. That would be awesome enough. But wait...there's more!

Friday morning, my friend Jonah and I will be heading out to do Get Out The Vote work in Denver for the weekend. This is the most important election of my life (so far), and we are going to go door to door and encourage people to go out and vote in one of the most important swing states in the country.

Of course, we'll be shooting video from the road, and we'll be sure to post the best stuff here.

Until later, ROCK ON!

Rock The Vote Updates

WOW! It's been busy. Voter registration in Utah ended on October 6th. We were excited to sign up new voters and re-register people who needed to update their registrations.

Our last voter registration drive was on Thursday, October 2nd at West High School. It was the last of four voter registration drives held at the school, so we didn't expect to find any people left to sign up. However, we registered a bunch of new voters and re-registered one person who had moved to a different address. It was awesome.

The top pic is of me with TJ Ellerbeck (who helped me with the registration drive) and a senior at my school who registered to vote in her first election. (I go to middle school at a high school--long story.) The second pic is of me with the Salt Lake County Clerk, Ms. Sherrie Swensen, when I went to the county offices to turn in the voter registrations I collected.

Now, we're really busy doing Get Out The Vote (GOTV) stuff. Next week, we'll have new GOTV videos featuring members of some of your favorite bands posted for high school TV stations to download and remind their school's first-time voters to go out to the polls and VOTE. Stay tuned...

The

Kids Rock The Vote Now Official Partners with Rock the Vote

It's official! We just received confirmation from Rock The Vote that we are now official Rock The Vote partners. Woo Hoo! This means that we can use the Rock The Vote logos, promos, etc. to help us get more kids involved in the political process and register more young voters to go to the polls in November.

We will be hosting several voter registration and Get Out The Vote events here in our area, so check back in the next few days for details. If you'd like more information on how to host events and sign up new voters in your area, shoot us an email and we'll get back to you ASAP.

Let's work together to get as many voters to the polls as we can so that they can vote for people who will support issues that are important to US!

Interviews with Congressman Chet Edwards and LeeAnn Edwards

Hey. Wes here. This interview with US Rep. Chet Edwards (Texas) was at the Pepsi Center in Denver during the DNC. We have known the Edward's all of our lives. They have two sons who are our ages. We hung out together all of the time until we moved away from DC. So we were pretty excited when we heard that Mr. Chet was on the short list to be Senator Obama's Vice President running mate. I was thinking it would be pretty cool to stay in the Vice President's mansion up on the hill at the Naval Observatory. But then, Sen. Obama chose someone else! Uh!
Anyway, here's our interview with Mr. Chet about what it was like to be SO CLOSE to being the Vice President of the United States.


Then, we talked to Miss Lee Ann about where their sons were and what they were up to.

Anne Hathaway Interview

So, the good news is that the Anne Hathaway Interview is up now, and it's a REALLY good one. The bad news is that she was really fun during the introduction, but my mom's memory card ran out right after the intro so we had to start over. Hopefully, we'll get the intro joined to the interview soon so that you can see how great Anne's personality is.

Anne was really excited to talk about arts education and healthcare. But what I thought was the coolest part of the whole interview was at the very end when she talks about how easy it SHOULD be for people who are interested in different issues to come together, have some give and take, and everyone work toward a win-win for everybody. That's how it SHOULD be. But it's not. I think I'm going to send this interview to some of our Republican and Democratic friends in Congress and ask them why it CAN'T work this way. Listen to the interview, and you'll see what I mean.

I vote Anne Hathaway for US Congress. Do I hear a second?

Will's Interview with Hayden Panetierre

It was really fun that my seats at Invesco field were right in front of Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, Josh Lucas, Tim Daly and other celebrities I met in Denver. But I was so excited when I turned around and saw Hayden Panetierre sitting there, too! She is really pretty. But when I interviewed her, I found out that she is smart and very involved in political issues that are important to me, too.

First, she is involved with The Whaleman Foundation, a group that tries to save whales and dolphins from slaughter and loss of habitat. I want to be a marine biologist, so this issue is REALLY important to me.

Second, she's involved with a group called Declare Yourself that encourages people over the age of 18 to vote. Well, yeah, I'm sort of involved in THAT issue, too. So Hayden and I are soul mates, for sure. How about you?

Here's my interview with Hayden: