A View From The Road
Dusk falls on the New Mexican scrub as the Obama motorcade rolls west from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. With the sun's assistance, the land is a pink-on-parchment color for an hour or so before the blue skies fade and the huge dark blanket falls.
In that brief interim you can see the snow on the mountains, and a dusting on the ground. And despite temperatures in the 40s, it is clearly a place where warmth predominates.
How different this is from the landscape we witnessed in Iowa, where the snow seemed to never stop and the air was redolent of hog farms and smoke for much of the day. I love Iowa, don't get me wrong. But after you've been to the world's largest truck stop on I-80, where do you go?
New Hampshire? The word gray seemed invented for it. Sure it's quaint towns are pretty. But its charms are harder to spot in the dead of winter. As for South Carolina, there are the lilting and pungent breezes off Charleston. But they gave way to a cold in Columbia that was reminiscent of Des Moines,
No. Here in the pristine wilderness, worries about overpopulation are shed like parkas on a hot March afternoon. Off in the distance you can see too headlights worming their way toward the Interstate, leaving a reservation probably and the infestation of payday lenders, discount liquor stores and pawn shops that prey on their inhabitants. Do they know Obama is coming to town?
Still, pulling into Santa Fe one is exhilarated. The air is fresh and chilly. Another big crowd awaits the senator from Illinois, who flew to New Mexico from Los Angeles on the wings of his charter jet and an enthusiastic endorsement from the Los Angeles Times.
Later Friday... It's on to Boise! How many of us can say that? Minneapolis, St. Louis and Chicago await. America awaits.
This truly is a great job.