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Brian Meets Biden

December 31st, 2020 · 10 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics, Real-life Adventure Tales

From Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy: Adventures in Politics 1980 – 2020

From the chapter — “Fun & Loving on the Campaign Trail 2020 — A Prankster’s Primary”.

 

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The next day — Tuesday, February 4th, the day following the night of the Iowa caucus vote-counting debacle — I pulled off three rallies: Biden, Tulsi & Amy.  The order I caught the candidates all week was in direct correlation to the order they appeared in Nashua.

The New Hampshire primary is the New Orleans Jazz Festival for politicos.  All the best performers are playing all day long, every day, for a week!  The only challenge is figuring out which stage you wanna be at. 🙂

For this 12 noon Joe Biden rally I got there at 11.  This is key. Always arrive an hour early, wink-wink, jot a note.

. . . . .

One bizarrely cool thing this 77-year-old grandpa does is frequently sprinkle “man” into his dialogue like you’re listening to Dizzy Gillespie or something.  He so often seems like a patently unhip old geezer, but man, sometimes this cat sure can swing!

. . . . . 

After the rally was over, all the candidates (except Bernie) held meet-n-greets after their show (speech) — but Joe just sorta wandered over to the ropeline and started talking to someone, then just kinda began drifting along the front of the crowd, very impromptu.

A bald Secret Service type guy immediately came out to Joe’s side.  I’d seen him standing at the back earlier and he looked so much like the strategist and Lincoln Project cofounder Steve Schmidt, I thought it was him.

Then for some reason, Joe picked me out with his eyes in the second row — I wasn’t right on the ropeline.

I’m sure my visage reflected positivity.  And he looked over two people’s shoulders and stared me right in the eye and said, “What’s your name?” reaching out his hand.  I was kinda caught off guard, but … “Brian. . . . I was at your first inauguration.”

“Yeah, so were a lot of people,” he said, but not dismissively, rather, celebratory with his beaming smile.

“I hope to be at your next one,” I Irishly twinkled back.

And the other people in the thick crowd kinda moved aside as though he and I knew each other or something and gave us space.  “You’re the one guy in this race who’s gonna know what to do from day one,” I told him.

“And you’re the one guy who knows that.  Tell your friends,” he said with a laugh.  And just then a staffer showed up, so I handed him my camera, and Boom!

.

Go Joe!  Get us back to where we once belonged!

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You can email me, or you can order Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy here.

Here’s the book’s prologue — “Let The Games Begin”

Here’s its Introduction — by The Beat Museum’s Jerry Cimino.

Here’s a full list of all the Adventures in Print spanning six books.

=========================================

by Brian Hassett

karmacoupon@gmail.com   —  BrianHassett.com

Or here’s my Facebook account if you wanna join in there —

https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada

 

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10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Suzanne Mirabelli // Jan 2, 2021 at 12:16 PM

    Nice to see Adventureman still pranking the multitudes. I was at your Starbucks shows in New York when you were reading that Woodstock book about sneaking backstage. Still remember that. Looks like you’re still up to your old magic tricks. Good to see you’re still on the road and keeping the Beat, Brian.

  • 2 Wendy Turkington // Jan 10, 2021 at 11:44 AM

    So sad that Beau Biden will not be there to see his Dad finally achieve his dream. That’s one of the reasons though that Joe Biden is such a kind, compassionate man – his losses and sorrows enlarged him. He never let them diminish him.

  • 3 CJ Barclay // Jan 18, 2021 at 4:35 PM

    A going away song for tRump:

  • 4 Dunc Lennox // Jan 19, 2021 at 5:19 PM

    This picture of you and joe takes on another level of historic, tomorrow.

  • 5 Krista Greenberg Swisher // Jan 19, 2021 at 9:52 PM

    I will figuratively (and at points literally) be holding my breath until Roberts says, “Congratulations Mr. President” kind of like the hours before Obama inauguration. Multiple years of trauma at the top does that to me.

  • 6 Cyndie Henderson // Jan 20, 2021 at 8:14 AM

    3 hours and 46 minutes away from the start of the Biden/Harris administration. Marine One is in the WH lawn. He will not get the gaudy send off he wants.
    Joe is getting ready to attend church. Hallelujah!✌️

  • 7 Frank Tabbita // Jan 20, 2021 at 2:09 PM

    Happy New Year America!

  • 8 Gl Weatherford // Jan 20, 2021 at 5:21 PM

    I feel like our Government has had a bath !

  • 9 Kevin Malin // Jan 20, 2021 at 7:41 PM

    That is so cool, Brian! Joe is going to be a great president. Thanks for this.

  • 10 Don VanWormer // Jan 20, 2021 at 8:09 PM

    Thank all the people who took the time to Vote for a new beginning!

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