With
trees on Missouri's Capitol grounds shading his eyes from the setting
sun, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry pledged to make
several changes in U.S. policies to benefit America's middle class.
Kerry's pledges came during a 30-minute address Thursday night to a
crowd of several thousand people gathered on the Capitol's south lawn,
under the Thomas Jefferson statue.
Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, John Edwards, stopped in
Jefferson City as part of their three-week long "Believe In America"
tour after their nominations at the Democratic Convention in Boston.
"We
returned from coordinating Missouri's Delegation to the National
Convention on Saturday evening...Monday evening the Kerry Advance team
called to let us know they'd be in our home city on Thursday," related
Jill Snodgrass, President of Daily Plan-it.
With a can-do spirit and a team
approach, logistics and procurement proved no obstacle despite just 2
1/2 days of lead time. Everything from t-shirt shooters to 3500
bottles of water, 90 feet of red, white and blue bunting, tables,
bleachers, staging, skirting and tents were needed and secured for the
2 hour event.
To assist with the job, the local
carpenter's union pulled out all the stops to construct a three level
stage from scratch. Pat Rowe Kerr whose daughter recently returned
from Iraq also stepped up to the plate. Kerr's been instrumental in
planning several Support the Troops rallies so it was natural she also
organized veterans to appear on the grandstand with Kerry.
Daily Plan-it
also made a call to the House Vagabond Reps band, a group of former
Missouri State Legislators who play a crowd-pleasing mix of oldies,
patriotic and country music at democratic events. Up for the
challenge, W.T. Dawson even brought a brand new Fender guitar to the
event, 'just in case' Kerry might like to join in. Much to the
delight of the band and the spectators, Senator Kerry couldn't resist
his theme song, "Johnny B Good".
It was a proud day for the democrats of
Missouri, particularly following the heated primary for Governor. "It
is time for us to be united in our purpose, because this campaign is
larger than any one of us," Governor Holden said as he showed
solidarity with gubernatorial candidate Claire McCaskill. "It's about
who we are and what we want this state and country to be."
Daily Plan-it was just glad to help.
